The Spectacular SpiderMan SPIDERMAN 3
by mrjop2
Summary: The sequal to my last Spiderman story: The Amazing Spiderman SPIDERMAN 2 , Peter's multi-life lifestyle brings Peter to the breaking point as the Lizard begin to terrorize New York
1. The Vulture

THE FOLLOWING STORY VERSION IS A SEQUEL OF MY STORY "THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (SPIDER-MAN 2)" WHAT I THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN AFTER THE FIRST MOVIE. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGMENT IS MEANT. THIS IS WRITTEN FOR PURE ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY! IF YOU LIKED MY LAST SPIDER-MAN STORY AND THIS ONE THAT IS STARTING, CHECK OUT MY FIRST STORY OF MY SUPERMAN TRILOGY ENTITLED "SUPERMAN: THE LAST SON OF KRYPTON"   
  
THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN (SPIDER-MAN 3)  
  
Chapter 1  
  
"If you thought my story was over…think again. Sure, I've won the heart of the woman who I have loved since I was elementary school, but if you thought I would live happily ever after…you were wrong.   
  
"Have you gone through the period where you feel like everything you ever do or every decision that you ever made turned out to be wrong and as a result those who you loved the most paid the price? Have you felt that no matter what you decided to do or say that, that it was no win situation?  
  
"By now, you know of my life as Spider-Man. It has become a very important part of my life, and a very demanding part as well. It nearly cost me the love of my life. Even with Mary Jane now knowing my secret, I would soon learn how demanding it was about to get."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The streets of New York was jammed as always. The sidewalks were full of many different ethnic groups. There was not much free space between people. It was impossible to turn around and walk in the opposite direction, against the constant flow of people. Anyone caught in such a situation were forced to walk with the flow.  
  
The streets were just as busy. Half of the cars driving down the roads were yellow cabs. The sounds of horns honking every other second reflected the typical impatient and rude attitudes of the city. Sometimes the sounds of the horns were drowned out by the blasting of rap music from a car that was driven by a young adult.   
  
At Chase Manhattan Bank at the corner of the street, a giant explosion rocked the immediate area, sending people caught in the blast flying in many directions, several were unfortunately went flying into the streets, were they were hit by cars driving by. Some cars swerved to miss some of the heavy debris only to crash into another car in the opposite lane. Anyone who was lucky to avoid the blast began running in the opposite direction screaming in freight.   
  
Smoke from the exploding cement came rushing out of the hole where a shadow stood amongst the smoke. Stepping out into the sidewalk was a man dressed in a hard, green, plastic, body suit. Even with the suit, he looked rather frail. His thick white hair was oiled and combed behind. His face showed the heavy years of experience. He was holding a large bag of money over his right shoulder.   
  
He looked in all directions with a grin on his rough whiskery face. The people who began to gather around to see what had happed stared at him with fears in their eyes. "Yes, fear me," he muttered under his breath. "You all treat your parents like throw away rag dolls. Well, you all will learn to treat your elder's right!" He began to scream at the people. "Your time is coming!"  
  
"Say Gramps, did ya wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?" A young voice said from above him. He turned around and looked up to see Spider-Man stuck to the wall with his head pointing downward. The way he was posed on the wall made him look like a predator stalking a prey.   
  
"Spider-Man!" he spat out the word as if it was poison on the tongue.  
  
"You've got me at a slight disadvantage. I don't even know your name!" Spider-Man said, tilting his head slightly.  
  
"Make wisecracks all you want, young whippersnapper. I am the Vulture."  
  
"Let's say you come with me back to your nursing home peacefully and without any more trouble, and I'll leave a good word with you care takers."  
  
That comment enraged the Vulture to no ends. "That's it!" He dropped the bag of money to the ground. "It's time to teach you a lesson you won't soon forget!" The Vulture reached for some sort of ball shaped bomb like object.  
  
Spider-Man waved his hand. "Hey wait, you'll hurt innocent civilians!"  
  
The Vulture grinned as he put the bomb back into his hidden satchel connected to his suit. "You care for these young people. Let's say we have some fun."  
  
The Vulture spread his arms out, revealing what looked like plastic green wings underneath his arms. Rocket boosters on his boots sent the Vulture flying at a faster pace than even Spider-Man had thought possible for someone like him. "Hey wait, come back! Was the food in the nursing home really that bad?" Spider-Man pointed his left wrist above his head towards the ledge of the roof top from across the street and released his spider grip on the cement wall of the bank.  
  
Gravity started him on his swing. As he was half way towards the other side of the street, he spun another web line from his right wrist to the right hand side of the street to start the rhythm of swinging down the middle following after the Vulture. It took no more than six lines to get him high up in the sky in hot pursuit.   
  
The Vulture looked behind to see Spider-Man struggling to keep up and laughed. "Catch me if you can Spider-Man!"  
  
"What? I can't quite here you? Slow down a little and say that again!" Spider-Man replied.  
  
The Vulture made a right hand turn and Spider-Man followed, cutting a corner by swinging above the ledge of the corner building. The Vulture looked back once again to see that he had not lost Spider-Man yet. He reached back into his satchel and pulled out a bomb. "Think fast, Spider-Man!" He tossed the bomb at a bulletin board on top of a rooftop and it exploded by a leg and the bulletin board slowly began to tip over the edge.  
  
"Man, this guy give a whole new definition of a cranky old man!" Spider-Man released the web line he was swinging down, letting himself free fall towards the roof top where the bulletin board was. As he fell, he tucked up his knees to prepare himself for the shock of landing onto the ground. Before he landed, he placed his two wrists side by side, with his palms facing up, and began spraying webbing at the bulletin board. By the time he landed on the roof top, the entire bulletin board was in giant ball of webbing, only the corners of the board could be seen.  
  
Spider-Man looked up to see The Vulcan hovering over his head, laughing mockingly down at him. "Your compassion towards these people will kill you, Spider-Man!"  
  
"If you're upset at me not taking you seriously, you have what you want," Spider-Man replied.   
  
"It's way too late for that, Spider-Man," The Vulture said as he flew off.  
  
Spider-Man fired a web line and swung back into action as he commenced following after the Vulture, but the Vulture was long gone. "Just great!"  
  
He was about to give up the search when his spider senses alerted him of danger. Unfortunately he was in a bad position to immediately adjust to any danger. The Vulture came speeding up from behind him and with his 'wings' sliced through his web line, sending him plummeting down towards the busy New York Street.  
  
Spider-Man, keeping calm, fired a web line towards another roof top, but before he was able to break his fall, the Vulture flew passed him again, cutting the web line once again. "What are you going to do now, Spider-Man? Your web lines won't save you now!"  
  
Spider-Man twisted himself around so he could get a better look at the ground which was quickly getting bigger. He then noticed a flag pole which was coming up quickly. This was going to be his chance. He pointed his right wrested upward and fired another web line, and just as he had hopped, the Vulture flew by cutting that web line. He immediately fired a web line with his left wrist which covered the rocket boosters on the Vulture's boots. "Wha?"  
  
He soon found himself plummeting towards the street along with Spider-Man. Spider-Man held the web line with his hands as Spider-Man fell on the right side of the poll and the Vulture on the left. The web line caught onto the flag pole, causing the Vulture to hand upside down while Spider-Man stretched his legs out and pointed his toes forward causing him to swing under the pole. He flew up on the other side of the pole and landed on the poll itself. Spider-Man sprayed more webbing to support the web line. "Why don't you hang out here for a bit and cool off. I'll make sure some friendly police officers come and pick you up."  
  
Spider-Man fired a web line and swung off, leaving a livid Vulture hanging on the flag pole. "Oh no, I forgot! I have dinner tonight with MJ and Aunt May!" He said to himself. "If I don't head back now, I'm going to miss yet another dinner!" God knows, Mary Jane was mad enough after him missing the last dinner with her aunt. 


	2. A Visit to Aunt Mays

Chapter 2  
  
Mary Jane walked down the sidewalk, alone, much to her dismay. She waited for Peter at his apartment for as long as she could, but she could wait no longer. Through this whole trip, she ran through excuses to tell Peter's aunt why he was late. She found herself fighting through her frustration that Peter had once again lost track of time while out play Spider-Man. This was suppose to be the two of them eating a meal over at Aunt May's new home in the suburbs. Peter had not seen his aunt in over two months, and Mary Jane had planned this special evening just to get Peter to see his own aunt again.  
  
She could sympathize with Peter to a certain extent. No only was he busy playing hero, he was a full-time college student and a full time employee at the Daily Bugle. It was bad enough that she and Peter had not gone out on a date in more than a month since going steady, but to forsake his family was unbelievable.  
  
She, herself, had left college recently when she had finally found an acting job off Broadway. The critics had give her rave reviews and her acting career had been launched.   
  
Peter, on the other hand, was struggling in life, and she could understand what he was going through. He has been given great powers and he has been using them to protect the innocent people of New York. Mary Jane knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before Peter was going to have to make a choice. Was he going to be the scientist that he always wanted to be since high school, or was he going to be Spider-man.   
  
She was willing to stick through this hard time, and the lack of intimate moments, because she knew it was not going to last forever. She was going to be there to help him when the time had come to make a choice. She couldn't help but wonder what she would do if she was in Peter's shoes. Would she choose her acting career or being a superhero? Peter wanted to be a scientist for the longest time, and for him to give it up to be Spider-Man, if that is the choice he was going to make, would hurt him deeply. That was going to be when he was going to need her the most, and she was ready to wait for that moment for she knew that that would also be the time when their relationship would change forever and marriage would finally be discussed between them. However, waiting for that time to come was getting a little frustrating and lonely.  
  
She was now on the street where Aunt May's house was. She found herself slowing her pace down because she was yet to come up with a decent excuse. "Wait up, MJ!" A voice called out behind her.  
  
She turned around and was washed in relief when she saw Peter catching up to her. "You have me a little nervous there for a minute. I was franticly trying to come up with an excuse to explain your absence."  
  
"Huh, I'm sorry MJ," Peter said, straightening his glasses. "I was distracted by a disgruntled old man bent on causing destruction."  
  
"Now that's a new one," MJ grinned. The two of them walked side by side the rest of the way to Aunt May's house. "Out of curiosity, why have you started wearing your glasses again? You don't need them with your eyesight, and you have such handsome eyes."  
  
"I don't know," Peter shrugged. "I guess to make me feel a little more disguised or something."  
  
That answer didn't make sense to Mary Jane but it wasn't really worth digging deeper into the issue. The two of them walked up the two wooden steps to the light blue wooden porch.   
  
Peter stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath. Mary Jane placed a hand on his shoulder to show him support. "Why am I so nervous? It's just Aunt May; I've never been nervous to see her before."  
  
"Because it's been too long since you've last seen her," Mary Jane took her hand off his shoulder and grabbed his hand and squeezed it.   
  
"It wasn't that long ago? I was here just…" His voice trailed as his mind calculated the days since he was last here. When the number in his head continued to increase, his eyes opened wider.  
  
Mary Jane smiled, showing some of her beautiful teeth. "Yes, it's been that long."  
  
"Where did the time go?"  
  
"You mean between school, your job, and being Spider-Man? I suppose you can say that time swung right past you," Mary Jane smiled. "Let's go in, Tiger."  
  
Peter took another deep breath before opening the screen door and the front door for Mary Jane. He followed her inside, allowing the screen door to slam shut itself and closing the front door behind himself. We're here, Aunt May, and look who I brought!" Peter heard Mary Jane announced.  
  
Peter followed Mary Jane into the living room where Aunt May was standing up to welcome her two visitors. "Peter! Mary Jane!" The smile on her face was bright and radiating, just the way it always was. "Peter, it's about time you've come to visit me," Aunt May smiled as she walked towards him first and hugged him.  
  
"I'm sorry, Aunt May, I've totally lost track of time. I've been so busy with school work and my job at the Dailey Bugle."  
  
"Still doing well at school, I assume," Aunt May asked after giving Mary Jane a hug.  
  
"Yes, I am doing pretty well," Peter said, trying to hide the conflict in his emotions. The truth of the matter was that as of late, he was not doing as well as he should have been doing. He didn't want to alarm Aunt May of his dropping grades. There would be no way to explain why his grades were dropping without telling her that he was Spider-Man. Her dislike for Spider-Man made things very interesting for him.  
  
"Well, good," Aunt May nodded her head. "Dinner will be ready shortly."  
  
"I'll come and help," Mary Jane said, walking with Aunt May through the doorway which led into the dinning room where the doorway was to the kitchen. Peter stayed in the living room and was ready to sit on the couch when he saw a picture of his Uncle Ben on a shelf that was hammered onto the wall. He walked up to the shell and grabbed the picture. It was a picture of just his head looking straight at the camera with him wearing his navy blue New York Yankees cap.   
  
Before he realized it, he was caught up into a day dream of the time he was in that beat up car with his Uncle just hours before he died. "Remember Peter, with great power comes great responsibility,"   
  
Those words had continued to echo in his mind ever since the words were actually spoken to him that fateful day. It was a lesson he had learned too late. His uncle had been murdered by a carjacker who he could have stopped before the murder when he ran into him after his wrestling match. That day had haunted him all the way up to that very moment.  
  
Now, he was feeling the responsibility that he had never felt before. It weighed on him like a ton or bricks, and there were many times that he was afraid that it would destroy him. There was too much responsibility for him to hold down on his own. Something was going to give unless he figured something out fast. His relationship with his own aunt was showing signs of the dam being ready to burst. If something was not done soon, would Mary Jane be next? Was he been so busy that he was missing signs that their relationship was already strained to the breaking point?  
  
"Peter, are you okay?" Mary Jane said, having unintentionally snuck up on him, breaking him out of his trip to memory lane. Mary Jane stood there by his side, rubbing his shoulder.  
  
"Yea. Yea, of course," Peter barely smiled when looked towards Mary Jane. He reached up and put the picture of his uncle back in it's place. 


	3. The Nightmare

Chapter 3  
  
Peter was riding the roof of a city bus in his Spider-Man costume. In this part of the neighborhood, there was no tall buildings with ledges that he could shoot a web line on to allow him to swing. Finally, the bus turned the corner and began driving down the street where Aunt May lived. Peter stood up and flipped off the bus to land on his feet. Spider-Man ran to the side of the first house of the corner and leaped up onto the roof.  
  
From there, Peter ran to the other end of the roof and leaped across to land on the next roof. He jumped over to three more buildings before landing on the roof that belonged to Aunt May's house. Peter jumped off the roof, landing in the small back yard. There, he opened the window to his room where he was sleeping and crawled in.   
  
Once he was in, he closed the window behind him. He reached for the lamp on the dresser across from the bed and turned it on. His room was dimly lit, just enough for him to get out of his costume.   
  
Before he could take his mask off, the door silently opened and in walked Aunt May. "Peter, are you…Ahhh!" She screamed in horrer. Peter had no time to react, all he could do was stand there in shock. "What have you done with Peter, you monster!"  
  
"Aunt May, it's me! I am Peter!" Peter took a step closer to Aunt May.  
  
"Stay away from me!" she screamed in horror, taking a step back.  
  
"Aunt May, don't you recognize my voice?" Peter took his right hand and grabbed his mask from his neck and pulled it over his face and off his head. "See, it's me, Aunt May."  
  
Her face showed even more horror than before. "No, it can't be! I refuse to believe it! I will not believe it!" She closed her eyes and shook her head franticly. Suddenly she gasped and she reached for her heart. Breathing became nearly impossible for her as she collapsed to the ground.  
  
"Aunt May, No!"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~  
  
"Aunt May, No!" Peter scream shooting up from leaning over the desk. His face was drenched in cold sweat. His heart raced a mile a minute in her chest. It had been another nightmare. Nightmares for Peter had been becoming more frequent these past months. He didn't know why these nightmares were becoming more frequent.  
  
Peter at that moment, realized that daylight was filling his apartment. He looked over to the digital clock on the desk that he sat at to see the clock read seven in the morning. He looked down at the essay that he had been writing to see that he was only half way done. He had fallen asleep in the middle of writing his essay, and now he had to rush off to school, with his assignment incomplete. He did not the time to even eat breakfast; if he left right now, he would just make to his first class. The essay was due three hours from now.  
  
He had no time to feel upset about failing another homework assignment. Peter jumped to his feet and grabbed all his books on his desk and threw them into his backpack on the table. He zipped it closed and ran out of the apartment.  
  
* * * *   
  
His first class of the day was now over as the bell rang. The professor had announced that the midterm grades were now posted up on the chalk board. As soon as the bell had rang, he was the first to jump out of his seat and race to the chalkboard. Peter looked for his school ID number and when he found it, he looked all the way to the right to see his score of 85/128.   
  
Peter's heart sank as he stared at his low score. He found himself being pushed out of the way by other students who wanted to see their score. "An eighty-five?" Peter said in shock. "That's a D!"  
  
Granted, he did not have a lot of time to study, but he thought he did better than that just going by his own knowledge. This grade showed him that he was in far more serious danger of flunking than he thought. This brought his grade to 400/650. That was barley a D-! It would take 4 perfect tests to get his grade back up to a C-. There were only four more exams before the final exam, and Peter was yet to get a perfect score on a test.  
  
Peter walked out of the classroom, dazed and confused. Under great distress, Peter was at a loss at what to do to save this semester for himself. This class was not the only one he was in danger of failing. Out of the five classes this semester, three of them were in danger. It was enough to have him tossed out of college for good. What could he do to turn things around?  
  
* * * *  
  
  
  
It was three in the afternoon after he finished his last class for the day. He headed straight for the Dailey Bugle. As soon as Peter got there, he was called in by his boss, J. Jonah Jameson. Peter sat in the seat across from his boss who sat behind his desk smoking his cigar. He stared down at Peter, making Peter feel a little nervous.  
  
"I hired you full time because you have a way with a camera, especially when it comes to that masked freak, Spider-Man. Now, you better have a good reason why I haven't received one front page photo from you in over a month."  
  
"Things have been relatively quiet around here recently," Peter said calmly.   
  
J. Jameson nodded. "I would tend to agree with you to a point, but the main reason is that you are beginning to slack off. There is a story here in the Daily Bugle of a fight between that Spider-Man and a loony old man who calls himself the Vulture. It's in page 2 of the Daily Bugle. It would have been number one if you had delivered a picture like you usually do."  
  
Peters eyes widen. Oh, God! It totally slipped his mind to bring his camera and take pictures of his fight with the Vulture. His boss was right, there was no excuse for making this bad of a mistake.   
  
"I dunno what's going on with you, kid, and frankly, I don't care. I gave you a full time job to take top quality pictures, and you have failed to do so for that past month."  
  
"Sir, I apologize. I will work harder to get you top quality photos. I promise you that. I've just been going through a hard time this past month, that's all."  
  
"Don't give me you sob stories, Parker!" J. Jameson snapped putting his cigarette on the ash tray. "All day today, I was looking forward to saying to you that you are fired, but against my better judgment, I allowed Robbie to talk me to an alternative decision."  
  
Peter looked out the glass wall to see Robbie glancing in at them. He showed great concern about their conversation. Robbie and Peter had become good friends since he came to work full time at the Daily Bugle. Peter had a feeling, that he was going to owe Robbie big time for this.  
  
"Against my better judgment, I giving you two weeks off to get your life straightened out. By then, I expect you to be taking top quality photos once again. If you don't, not even Robbie will be able to save your job. Get out of here Parker, before I change my mind." 


	4. The Theater

Chapter 4  
  
Peter was dressed in a rented tuxedo as he walked through the crowded lobby to find himself near the refreshment stands. Peter was extremely uncomfortable wearing a tuxedo, but it was worth it to show his support to Mary Jane on her opening night of her new play.   
  
"Parker?" A voice called out to Peter from behind him.   
  
Peter turned around to see a couple standing there. The gentleman was dressed in a tuxedo like Peter's and the woman was dressed in a long black dress with her shoulders, arms, and neck bare. Peter showed a pleasant smile. "Dr. Connors!"  
  
"I thought that was you," Dr. Conner's grinned. "So, what have you been up to lately?"  
  
"Nothing much," Peter shrugged. "I am now a photographer for the Daily Bugle."  
  
"I've noticed when I began seeing your photographs of Spider-Man on the front page day in and day out," Dr. Conners grinned. "Listen, I'm sorry I had to fire you awhile back, but you were continuously late for your job, and as much I liked you, I couldn't make an exception for you. I am glad, however, you have found some responsibility with your new job."  
  
"Uh, yes I did, and it's okay, I understand." Peter was getting tired of hearing the word responsibility.  
  
"I beg your forgiveness for my rudeness, Peter, this is my wife, Martha!"   
  
"It's nice to meet you," Martha said, shaking Peter's hand.  
  
"It's a pleasure," Peter replied.  
  
"So, what is a handsome young man like yourself doing alone here tonight?" Martha asked.   
  
"Oh, I'm not really alone…well, technically I am, but I am here to support my girlfriend. She is the lead actress in the play."  
  
"Really?" Dr. Conners pulled out the playbill and turned to the page that gave the listings of the actors.   
  
Peter stood by his left side while his wife looked over his right shoulder. Peter pointed to the first name on the list naming the character followed by the name: Mary Jane Watson. "That's my girlfriend, MJ!"  
  
"Wow, well what do ya know!" Dr. Connors grinned.   
  
"You are a good man for being here to support your girlfriend. I hope she realizes how lucky she is to find a gentle and generous man like you," Martha said sincerely.  
  
"Thank You," Peter smiled.  
  
The lights began to flicker on and off. "Well, we all better go find our seats. The Play is about to begin. It was nice to see you again, Peter."  
  
"Yea, same here!" Peter found it awkward shaking with the opposite hand since Dr. Conner's right arm was missing. The couple walked off in a different direction from Peter as Peter followed the crowd that was going through the twin wooden doors leading to the auditorium closest to where his seat was. By the time Peter found his seat, the light began to dim and the music began and the curtains rolled open.  
  
* * * *  
  
The play was a quarter from an hour into the play and Peter found himself nodding off. Peter's head shot back up when he realized he was nodding off. He was dead tired, getting very little sleep as of late, especially last night when he fell asleep while trying to do his homework starting at midnight. What he needed was something to wake him up.   
  
The scene up on the stage did not contain Mary Jane so he decided to sneak out now and go get him a soda. He whispered his apologies as he climbed over people's legs to get to the aisle. He quietly walked up the aisle and out of the doors. He walked up to the refreshment stand. "One small coke, please," Peter said, putting two dollars down on the counter.  
  
Suddenly, his spider-senses went off. He spun around quickly expecting to see someone or something come at him but he didn't see anything. "What the?"  
  
Suddenly people began to burst through the doors screaming in horror. "Fire!"  
  
The fire alarm began to sound in the building. "Fire? Where?" Peter franticly tried to find someone who would give him a straight answer. Finally, he had to grab someone and pull him out of the flow of frantic people racing to the exit. "Where is the fire?"  
  
"It's on the stage and spreading uncontrollably everywhere! There are actress's trapped on stage. "Actresses?" Peter allowed the man to run as he peeked through the twin wood doors to take a peek inside. He had a brief glimpse, but he could see two actresses stuck on stage with flames burning all around them. He could see the red hair on one of the actresses. "Mary Jane!"  
  
Peter looked around to find some way he could hide and get into his Spider-Man costume. All he could find was a men's room on his side of the river of rampaging people. Peter ran into the empty bathroom and locked the door behind him. He quickly took his tuxedo off and underneath it was his costume.  
  
* * * *  
  
The fire was pressing in on the two women and Mary Jane knew that they didn't have much time left. She franticly tried to look for a way of escape for her and her fellow actress but there was none. If peter was here, like he promised, she expected to see Spider-Man to come to their rescue, but now doubt was starting to settle in that he was even here.   
  
As if hearing her doubts in her head, Peter, as Spider-Man, came swinging through the wood doors, landing on his feet. He saw Mary Jane and another actress stuck in the center of the stage as a ring of fire began to close in on them. Spider-Man fired a web line at the ceiling and swung over the flames to land in the circle with the two women.  
  
"Spider-Man!" Mary Jane cried, acting surprise.  
  
"Hold on to me tightly!" Spider-Man said, exaggerating his nod a bit.  
  
Both women wrapped there arms around him, holding on to him tightly. Spider-Man fired a web line straight up and began to pull himself and the two girls up over the flames. He fired another webline and pulled him out of the fire and back into the seating area. He gently placed himself down. As soon as their feet landed a flash went off startling all three of them.  
  
Spider-Man looked back towards the wood door to see a a husky man standing there with a camera in his hand. When he lowered his camera, he saw that his head was completely shaven. He grinned as he waved his right fingers at them and ran off.  
  
"Go on and get out of here! This building is going to be totaled!" Spider-Man told Mary Jane and the other actress.  
  
The two women ran for their lives as the seating area began to catch fire. Spider-man followed the two girls out of the theater and as soon as he was out the front door, he fired a web line and began to swing off as the fire fighters and police began to arrive to the scene. 


	5. Who Took That photo

Chapter 5  
  
Peter went into the cafeteria to have some lunch before he went home. His classes for the day were over. Today was one of the short days for Peter, which he looked forward to. He sat down alone at one of the round tables, placing his try on the table. He sat back and moaned as his body was begging for sleep. He had been up late comforting a broken down Mary Jane who was depressed about being out of a job.   
  
Peter picked up a fork and took a bite of the meatloaf when he noticed the student at the table next to him had a copy of the Daily Bugle. There on the front page, he could see a picture as him as Spider-Man rescuing Mary Jane and another actress from the burning theater. What was going on here?   
  
Peter's confusion was quickly solved when he remembered the man who took the picture in the auditorium. That man worked for the Daily Bugle. Suddenly, his appetite vanished and he stood up. He had a stop to make at the Daily Bugle.  
  
* * * *   
  
Peter was walking through the pathway between all the cubicles on the way to J. Jonah Jameson's office. He saw that same shaved head man in the office with him that he saw in the theater last night. Robbie stepped in front of Peter before he could walk into the office.  
  
"Peter, I would think twice before going in to see Mr. Jameson. He would not be happy about you being here right now. He's given you two weeks off. I really stuck my head out there as it was to keep him from firing you. If he sees you now, I won't be able to stop him this time."  
  
Peter respected Robbie. They were good friends and Robbie had really taken Peter in as a mentor like figure. "Who is that man in his office? Is he the one that took the picture of Spider-Man last night?"  
  
"Yea, amazing isn't it. He is the first one ever to get such a close up shot of him since you arrived. That's Eddie Brock."  
  
"Thee Eddie Brock?"  
  
"Yes, the man he pushed down to a free lance photographer and gave his job to you.  
  
Peter remembered hearing his name a few times before, especially when he was in competition for the full time photographer position. He had never ran into Eddie Brock during that time, put there was a short time Peter felt guilty about steeling his job. "How did he get that shot? I mean, how did he get there in time to take this picture?"  
  
"I'm at a lost," Eddie shrugged his shoulders. "He won't tell, but it's impressing Mr. Jameson to no end. I wouldn't worry about it, Peter. Take your time off and get things figured out in your life."  
  
Peter looked at him with an amazing look. "How did you know I had personal issues?"  
  
"I was young once, too!" Robbie smiled. "I can see it in your eyes, Peter. You are stretched out too thin. Something has to give. Figure out what direction you want for your life, and then I'm confident you'll be back here doing what you do best."  
  
"I'll do that, Thanks Robbie!"  
  
* * * *  
  
Peter walked out of the revolving doors letting out a deep breath. For once, he was lost at what to do. He actually had some free time, but so much things to take care of, he didn't know where to start. Perhaps he should go back to his apartment and study and work on getting his grades back up to par? On the other hand, Mary Jane was still a wreck from last night and perhaps he should spend time with her? Again on the other hand, crime was on a slight up rise since he had been spending less time playing Spider-man as he should be?"  
  
Peter felt a hard slap across his back, nearly causing him to stumble forward. Walking up to his side was the very bulky body of Eddie Brock. "So, Parker, I hear your pictures as of late have not been up to par recently."  
  
"Well yea," Peter shrugged. "I have a lot of things on the plate right now. I just need some time to figure things out."  
  
Eddie threw a cigarette into his mouth and pulled out a leather from his leather coat pocket. He lit the cigarette and took a deep puff before pulling the cigarette away and blowing the smoke out of his mouth. "You didn't seem to have too much trouble when you were trying to steel my job from me."  
  
"I am truly sorry about you loosing your job," Peter turned to him politely. "I never meant to put you out of business. I don't understand why Mr. Jameson couldn't keep us both."  
  
"You're naïve kid, either that or just plain stupid," Eddie took another puff of his cigarette. "Mr. Jameson is the cheapest man alive. He never buys anything over five dollars for his own wife. On valentine's day, he only buys one artificial rose for his wife. For Christmas bonus, he only gives his employees coupons for McDonalds."  
  
Eddie laughed as he took another puff on the cigarette. "But let's keep the old man out of this. This is between you and I. You stole my job, and I want it back. Make that, I'm going to take it back."  
  
"Listen, I need this job. It's the only thing that is keeping me in college. I have a girlfriend who I am considering to propose to."  
  
"I think we're having a miscommunication between us," Eddie again slapped him hard across the back. "What have I said that made you think that I even care about what happens to you? You can rot in the Lincoln tunnel for I care. As for your girlfriend, perhaps she would be better off with me than a loser like you."  
  
Peter hid his clenches fists, barley able to keep himself from knocking him out cold. It appeared that his attempts to try to make amends with Eddie Brock was not going to work out. He was out to destroy him and his life.   
  
"Enjoy your time off, because while you're off, I am moving in on your job. Your job is as good mine. I'm going to destroy your life as you have mine. Take it easy." Eddie laughed as he walked off. 


	6. Brock after Brock after Brock

Chapter 6  
  
A young woman jogger was taking a job through the park that warm spring morning. She had her earphones covering her ears, listening to her favorite classical composer. She was whistling the tune to herself when a man ran past her and grabbed her by the arms and began pulling her towards the bushes. She screamed at the top of her lungs and tried to fight free from his grip.  
  
A web line came out of nowhere and connected to the rapist's shoulder. He soon found himself pulled upward and dangling over the ground. "Lem'me go!" he screamed.   
  
Landing on the ground was Spider-Man who fired web lines and formed a cocoon around the attacker.  
  
The young lady, brushed herself off and tried to regain composure. "Thank you," She huffed.  
  
"Hey Spider-Man, say cheese?" a voice said out of nowhere.  
  
Spider-Man turned and looked in the direction of the voice who called out to him to see Eddie Brock with a camera up in front of his face. The camera's flash went off and Eddie lowered the camera and waved towards Spider-Man.  
  
* * * *   
  
The glass doors of the New York National Bank came crashing open and a masked man stormed in holding two machine guns, one in each hand. He pointed them upward and fired both guns into the roofs. Everyone screamed in horror as most of the people immediately dropped to the ground. The robber laughed as he lowered his gun. "Everybody down! Give me all your money!"  
  
Suddenly a window high above the ground shattered and in swung Spider-Man who landed on the marble floor. He pointed his wrists towards the robber and fired two web lines which connected to the guns. With a hard yank on both web lines, both machine guns were ripped out of his hands and went sliding by Spider-Man. The man stood there stunned as Spider-Man jumped forward, and flipped in mid air only to land on his hands and feet. He twisted his wrists and fired web lines at the robber's boots and with a tug, he fell onto his back.  
  
He had no time to get back up before he was being pinned down by strips of web line across his chest. People began to rise when they realized the danger was over. When Spider-Man realized everyone was getting to their feet, he prepared to leave until he heard someone call out. "Thank you for saving us, Spider-Man!"  
  
He turned to see Eddie Brock once again with his camera, and the flash of his camera blinding him for the split second.  
  
* * * *  
  
The state fair was in town, and it was full of families seeking for a fun time. There were rides, games, and attractions. Like always, the popular ride was the gigantic Ferris Wheel.   
  
A young boy and his sister sat in one of the cars waving down at their parents on the ground. "Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!" Both kids were jumping up and down in the center of the car.  
  
Suddenly, the car began to creek as the wheel came to a halt. The car slipped off it's hinges and began dangling by it's metal rope which was half way snapped. The two children feel to the floor, embracing the metal pole in the middle of the car, crying in fright.   
  
"My babies!" The mother screamed from on the ground. People were gathered around watching with intensity.   
  
The rope snapped and the car came falling down towards the ground. Everyone began to scream as it fell down the side of the Ferris wheel. The car was ten feet from coming crashing down until it stopped in mid air. Everyone looked up and saw Spider-Man hanging onto a web line with his right hand and holding a web line that connected to car with his left hand.   
  
Everyone began to cheer as Spider-Man lowered the car safely to the ground. As soon as the car touched the ground, there were maintenance people there to help get the children out.   
  
Before Spider-Man could even disconnect the web line from his left wrist, a camera flash went off and standing there once again was Eddie Brock with a giant grin on his face.  
  
* * * *  
  
"I feel like I have a stalker or something," Peter said prancing the living room floor to his own apartment. Mary Jane was sitting on the couch, watching Peter prance around the room. "He's always there at the right place at the right time. How is he doing it? He's making me, Peter Parker, look like a fool!"  
  
"It is a little odd, but I don't think you have to worry about him," she said, trying to calm him down. "Besides, maybe this is somewhat of a blessing in disguise."  
  
"How So?" Peter stopped prancing and looked at Mary Jane. He had to remind himself that he did not tell her about his threat and that he was put on a two week hiatus, which he was four days into.  
  
"You are always there in the right place at the right time to take Spider-Man's picture. Well obviously that's because you are Spider-Man. Before long, people would eventually get suspicious about how you keep on getting Spider-Man pictures day after day, week after week, and month after month. This Eddie Brock has found a way to do the same, and now the spotlight is off of you for once. Now, no one will fall into suspicion that you are Spider-Man."  
  
"I never thought about it that way," Peter admitted. He smiled and sat down next to Mary Jane. "Here I am rambling on about my problem, and you are having bigger problems than myself."  
  
"Well, things maybe looking up for me on my end. I've been waiting to tell you this all day," Mary Jane fidgeted in her seat excitedly. "I got a call today from Alfred Donsuit, the director of my old play, and since this play died in the fire, he has highly recommended me to another director who is casting an off-Broadway play."  
  
"Really?" Peter said with a pleasant smile on his. "Well, that's great MJ! When is the tryouts?"  
  
"In two weeks," Mary Jane replied. "I'm so excited Peter, I was so afraid my dream of being an actress was going to die in the fire, but it's still alive."  
  
"I'm happy for you," Peter said as he reached over and grabbed her hand. "Let's go celebrate, my treat."  
  
"We haven't gone out on a date in ages. Are sure you don't have an exam to study for?"  
  
Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing important. I want to spend some time with you. I'm sorry I've been so busy and have been neglecting our relationship. I want to start making it up tonight, by treating you to dinner." Peter said, jumping to his feet. Still holding her hand, he gently pulled her up to her feet.  
  
"I think it's a wonderful idea! What are we waiting for?" 


	7. SpiderMan Fails

Chapter 7  
  
Curt Connors came down into the kitchen to see his wife working up a storm. She turned around to see him enter the kitchen. "Morning, Honey? I have your plate on the table."  
  
Curt did not reply. He went to his chair and pulled it out with his right hand and sat down. There in front of him was a plate full of cut up pieces of waffles and sausage smothered in syrup. He found himself staring down at his plate. How many times has he had come down to a plate with his food already cut for him like a little child. Martha meant well, but all this time, it was driving him nuts that he had to have help with almost everything. Missing his left arm, he couldn't even pick up his own son!   
  
"Curt, is there something wrong?" Martha asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"No, nothing wrong. I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything you do for me. I love you so much,"  
  
"I love you too," Martha knelt down besides him and kissed him across the lips. Little Billy on the opposite end of the table began to giggle seeing his mommy and daddy kiss. "You better eat, and I'll drive you to work when you're done."  
  
Curt nodded as he began eating his waffles. As he did, his thoughts again began to drift. Soon, things were going to change around here. Soon, he will be a whole man again and enjoy playing with his son the way all fathers should. He will be able to hold his wife the way all husbands should.   
  
* * * *  
  
  
  
Peter was in his Spider-Man costume and swinging around New York. The thought that somehow Eddie Brock was going to find another way to get a picture of him disturbed him greatly. How was he doing it? No one was that lucky. The only way he could be doing it was if he was setting up those accidents himself, but he had no concrete evidence of that. He could have been doing a report on Mary Jane's play before the fire started and got lucky to get an even better picture. The amusement park can be explained away the same way. The Bank and the jogger was not so easily explained away.  
  
Spider-Man's web senses began to tingle and he began to look around to see what was setting it off. Down below, one of the smaller buildings were burning. There was a lady screaming in terror on the street, being kept back by two fire fighters.  
  
The last time he went into a burning building, it was a trap set up by the Green Goblin that nearly got him killed. He hoped to God that this was not another trap by some crazy lunatic who wanted him dead. Spider-Man swiftly swung low to the ground and landed on his feet on the sidewalk and took two steps towards the woman screaming and the fire fighters. "Is there anything I can do to help?"  
  
"My daughter is in there! Please save her, Spider-Man!"  
  
"Don't worry, Ma'am, I'll get her," Spider-Man said as he turned around.  
  
A hand ,grabbing him by the should, pulled him back around. "Don't do it Spider-Man. That building is about to collapse! I need everyone to clear back. There just not enough time!"  
  
"I'm going in there. I have to save that girl!"  
  
"You go at your own risk, Spider-Man. If you get in trouble, we're not coming in and getting you, no matter who you are!"  
  
"I understand. I'll take my chances!" Spider-Man said, nodding his head. He turned around and fired a web line up at the corner of the burning building. He pulled himself off the ground and fired a web line across the street. He swung across the street and fired a web line back across the street. He made a U-turn in mid-air and swung towards the burning building. He went crashing through the third level window. He landed on the wooden floor and was now engulfed in smoke and surrounded by flames.   
  
"Is anyone in here?" Spider-Man screamed.  
  
There was no reply. He walked in deeper into the fiery building when his Spider senses went off. At that moment, A burning beam came crashing down towards Spider-Man. He made a leap through some flames to avoid being crushed to land in a small safety spot. The beam crashed to the floor and the floor collapsed. More of the floor began collapsing and Spider-Man began to fall through the collapsing floor.  
  
He fired a web line and pulled himself back up onto the third level. "That was close."  
  
Spider-Man continued through the burning building. "Is anyone in here?"  
  
"Help me!" a young girl's voice screamed out.  
  
Spider-Man headed towards the direction of the voice. "If you can me, keep talking!"  
  
"Please, help me!" She responded.  
  
He was now certain that he could locate the young girl. He rushed towards the location he heard the voice come from. There, standing in a corner was a eight year old girl. "I'm here!" Spider-Man said walking up to the young girl and knelt down. "Grab a hold of me! I'll get you out of here!"  
  
The young girl wrapped her arms around his neck, her soot soaked face also soaked with tears of fright and from the smoke. Spider-Man fired a web line and began to swing towards the window that he had crashed into. He let go of the web line before crashing into the wall and landed on the ground. He made a leap out the window just as an explosion rocked the building, sending them tumbling out the window.   
  
Spider-Man reacted quickly enough to spin another web line at the rooftop a few feet above his head, as the young girl lost her grip around his neck. Spider-Man snapped his left hand downward and caught her by the wrist. "Hold on!" Spider-Man screamed.  
  
The girl was dangling three stories above the sidewalk, screaming in extreme fright. Spider-Man looked above him at his webline and the flames were starting to eat through his webbing. "Not good."  
  
The web line suddenly snapped sending them falling. He quickly shot another web line, but the young girl and slipped through his hand. With his left wrist, he fired a web line which snagged onto her back. She was now dangling two and a half stories above the sidewalk. He slowly began to lower themselves down when another explosion and a wave of flames shout out of the building. The force of the explosion sent them flying away from the building as the flames instantly disintegrated all webbing.  
  
Spider-Man came crashing down and landed hard against the top of a fire truck severely knocking the wind out of him. If he had been a normal person, he would be dead. The burning building began to come crashing down to the ground as the fire fights continued to fight the fire and keep it from catching the near by buildings on fire.  
  
Spider-Man moaned as he painfully sat up. His entire head was spinning as he stood up. He looked down to see the woman screaming and the fire fighters surrounding that side of the fire truce beneath him. There was shattered glass from the fire truck and a huge dent in the side. "Oh God, please no!" Spider-Man muttered. There on the ground was the young girl right up to the side of the fire truck laying motionless.   
  
"Is she…" Spider-Man began to ask, praying hard at that very moment.  
  
The fire fighter looked up with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Spider-Man. She's dead." The mother screamed and wept bitterly over her daughter's body. "You did everything you could, Spider-Man."  
  
A flash of light caught Spider-Man's attention from the other side of the yellow tape that was keeping pedestrians away from the scene. "Bummer, Spider-Man!" Eddie said, shaking his head.  
  
Spider-Man shook his head in disbelief. "No…no it can't be. NO!" Spider-Man violently turned around and fired a web line and swung away from the mess.  
  
* * * *   
  
Peter sat upon the eagle Gargoyle high above the city on one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city. He held his Spider-Man mask in his right hand. His face was soaked from tears. He could not stop weeping. The image of the dead girl hunted him. "I've failed. I've failed as Spider-Man."   
  
Peter stood up, sniffling. He turned his right wrist around and looked down at the soot stained Spider-Man mask in his hands. "It's over." He turned the palm of his right wrist downward and allowed the mask to slide out of his hand. The mask began to float away, downward into the city. 


	8. Peter's Depression

Chapter 8  
  
Peter was standing in his bedroom looking down into his chest. There, neatly folded was his Spider-Man costume and his spare face mask. He stood there above the chest staring down at the costume which seemed to stare back at him, wondering why it was being abandoned. The haunting image of the young girl was sketched deep into his memory, making sure he would never forget it.  
  
"Good-bye old friend. I'm sorry to do this to you, Spider-Man, but I can't handle the pressure anymore. Maybe this was a sign for me. I'm going to be the scientist I've always wanted to be and I'm going to settle down and marry Mary Jane. Take care of yourself." Peter closed the chest and locked it with the key.  
  
* * * *  
  
Peter and Mary Jane were sitting on the couch together watching the news, literately: The television was on mute. Mary Jane noticed that he was holding a newspaper in his hand, but was not reading it. It was crumpled up in his hand as if he had been squeezing the life out of it before she had arrived. Sensing his stress, she thought it was best not to talk about it until he was ready. She knew something was going on in his life.  
  
"So Peter, how are your classes going?"   
  
"Doing, great. I was falling a little behind because of all things I am doing, but I think things are about to get better. How are you doing? What have you been doing to keep yourself busy?"  
  
"I'm going out of my mind, Peter. I am so bored. I can't wait to get back to acting. I wish I could take some of the load off your shoulders so I can keep busy," Mary Jane laughed.  
  
Peter smiled as he glanced onto the television and saw the image of Spider-Man web slinging, and he knew instantly what they were reporting. The memories which he had successfully held back for a good time came flooding back like a tidal wave.   
  
"Peter, what's wrong?"  
  
Peter realized that he was crunching the paper tightly in his hand; so tightly that his veins were bulging. He did not reply to Mary Jane. Peter jumped to his feet and threw the paper down and walked out of the room.  
  
Mary Jane was totally confused by his sudden change of mood. She looked to the television and saw the image of Spider-Man, and now her curiosity on what was on the front page of the paper had gotten the better of her. She reached down and grabbed the paper and opened it up. She gasped as she read the headline of the Daily Bugle: "Spider-Man Fails!"  
  
"Oh my god," She gasped, covering her mouth with the fingers of her right hand as she began to read the article. She read the first three paragraphs before she put the paper down and looked toward the direction Peter went. Her heart was broken, feeling Peter's pain.   
  
She stood up and went into the dinning room where Peter was sitting on a chair, leaning on his own legs and looking down to the floor. Mary Jane walked up to him and began to rub his back as she knelt down next to him. "I read the paper that you were holding. I can't imagine the pain you must be going through."  
  
Tears were flowing from her eyes down the sides of his face. "She was just a little girl, MJ. She had her whole life in front of her."  
  
"It is horrible what happened to her, but there was nothing you could have done."  
  
"There had to be, MJ?" Peter looked up at her with his teary eyes. "I'm Spider-Man. With all of these abilities, I should have been able to do something, but I failed."  
  
"I know how much this hurts, Peter, but you're not God. You're not all powerful even though you can do all these wonderful things and are using them for good. In the end, you're just as human as all of us."  
  
"My standards has to be higher than most people, MJ. With great power comes great responsibility, and I failed in my responsibility. I failed that young girl just like I failed Uncle Ben. That's why I am done, being Spider-Man."  
  
"Peter, you do not mean that."  
  
"I have never been so serious in my life. Whenever I fail, someone dies: Uncle Ben, Norman Osborn, that little girl. Who is going to die next because I failed? It could be anyone, and even worse it could be Aunt May or yourself. I can't live with that. I won't live with that." Peter stood up. "From this day on, Spider-Man is dead." Peter went to the front door and left the apartment.  
  
Mary Jane stood up and sat down in the chair Peter was sitting on as tears filled her eyes. Her heart was broken to see Peter so broken. What was worse was that she could not help him through this as much as she wanted. No one could help him. Aunt May didn't even know Peter was Spider-Man. She hated the feeling of being so helpless. Peter was going to have to work this out on his own.  
  
* * * *   
  
Dr. Connors was in his laboratory near the end of the day. For the past day and a half, the frustration continued to swell inside of him. Now things were finally looking up. It was finally time to test his no potion.  
  
Over the last few years, he has done a study on lizards and how they can regrow limbs. After research, he discovered that they had a special gene in their DNA code that was responsible for the regenerating limbs. If he could take that gene and add it to any other DNA, perhaps that DNA will accept the gene and that mammals should be able to re-grow limbs as well. Today, it was time to test that theory.  
  
On the table in front of him, in a cage, was a three legged mouse. It had been born missing a leg. Dr. Connors took a syringe and a jar of his green potion. Taking off the cap, he stuck the syringe into the potion and sucked up three CC's of the potion.   
  
He went to the cage and opened the door. He gently held the mouse still as he injected it with his potion. He pumped all 3 CC's into the mouse and took out the needle. He closed the cage as he put the cap on the syringe and properly discarded it. "Now, all I have to do is wait until tomorrow and see if this works." Dr. Connors put the jar in it's secret place where no one would be able to find it: Behind other rarely used chemicals. With that, he was ready to go home and be with his family. If everything worked out, he could test his potion on himself and hope to results through the night. He would only have to make up a reason not to come home for the night. It will cause confusion but it would be all worth it to see his wife's expression when he came walking in with two arms and not one.  
  
He made his way to office so he could pack up and leave. He walked past another chemist on his way to the office. The chemist was doing some last minute work on his project. He reached up on the shelf and grabbed a jar full of red substance and as he pulled it out, he accidentally knocked over a vile of blue substance, but the jar full of Dr. Connor's lizard DNA formula prevented it from crashing to the ground. A few drops of the blue liquid dropped into Dr. Conner's experiment before the chemist straighten up the vile. He never saw that green substance before and saw no reaction from the two drops. It appeared to him that no serious damage was done so he took the jar that he had pulled off the shelf and walked away. 


	9. The Experiment is Ready

Chapter 9  
  
Mary Jane and Peter was walking side by side at night time coming from a diner eight blocks from Peter's apartment. They held hands as they walked out of the dinner and began their walk towards his apartment. Peter seemed a little happier than he had been since the tragedy. In fact, he was happier now than she could ever remember. Obviously his stress level had dropped since giving up being Spider-Man, but she could not help but feel that he had made a major mistake in giving up Spider-Man. Peter seemed happy, but was it for real?  
  
At that moment, MJ was just happy being there by his side for once. For once, he was not too busy doing something else. "That was fun, we need do that more often," Mary Jane laughed.  
  
"From now on, we can do this as often as we want," Peter replied. "I promise to be there for you from this day on. I've allowed myself to get so distracted that I locked you out of my life. I will never make that mistake again."  
  
Mary Jane smiled as she turned to face him. "You better not." She leaned forward and the two of them locked lips. She tilted her head as he raised his right hand and placed it passionately on the side of her face. Suddenly his Spider-Senses warned him of danger. He wrapped his arm around her waist tightly as he shot a web line with his other wrist. He pulled Mary Jane and himself up two stories off the ground. Mary Jane yelped as her feet left the ground and his arm digging into her due to gravity pulling her down.   
  
The two of them looked down as the door below them came crashing open and out ran three masked men running out of the door with bags full of what they assumed was money. The last masked man turned back around to look inside and swung a handgun around with him. He fired three shots into the store before turning back around and joining his three buddies in hopping into an old Chevrolet that was parallel parked in front of the grocery story they had just rubbed. There were screams and crying that could be heard inside the store.   
  
The engine ripped to life and the car quickly veered onto the main road, cutting another off, who just avoided colliding into the old Chevrolet. Peter lowered themselves back down to the sidewalk. Mary Jane and Peter entered the grocery store and saw a middle aged oriental wife kneeling down besides her husband who had blood stains covering his chest. She cried out to the two of them in Chinese, unable to speak English. Mary Jane and Peter ran to their assistance. "Somebody call for an ambulance!" Mary Jane said franticly towards the customers who had been inside during the robbery. Mary Jane looked towards Peter who knelt there with fury in his eyes. "Peter, you can go and do what you need to do."  
  
Mary Jane could not read the expression on his face and could not read what he was feeling until he had responded. "Spider-man is dead, but that doesn't mean that Peter Parker can't do anything."  
  
"Peter, what are you…" Mary Jane had looked away for a brief second and when she looked back, he was gone.  
  
* * * *   
  
Peter was running with all his strength in the direction the old Chevrolet had driven off. The pulled into the first alleyway that he had come across and leaped onto the brick wall. He used his special abilities to climb the three story building until he reached the roof top. He fired a web line across the street and began swinging. He slowly elevated upward and continued swinging until he found the old Chevrolet. Peter continued to swing past the car. When he found himself a good mile ahead, he landed on the roof top of a small two story brick building. He leaped down into an alleyway and ran out to the edge of the sidewalk. "Hey taxi!" Peter nearly stepped in front of a taxi, bringing it to a squealing halt.  
  
Peter ran to the back of the car, and as soon as he opened it, he jumped in, slamming the door shut behind him. "Jesus, kid, are ya' nuts?"  
  
Peter watched out the left side window to see the old Chevrolet race past them. "Hey, follow that car quickly!"  
  
"Hey kid, I don't do chases, I…" the overweight cab driver replied.  
  
"Do it!" Peter snapped angrily. "I'm a photographer for the Daily Bugle, and that car is news! Now Go!"  
  
"Will my name be in the newspaper?"  
  
"For god's sake, JUST GO!" Peter pounded on the back of the driver's seat.  
  
The driver pounded on the gas peddle and rushed off to catch up to the Chevrolet. Peter sat back in his seat, and found himself drifting into a sea of thought. As much as this way of following the robbers were primitive compared to his abilities, it was better for him to do it this way and avoid being seen using his abilities without his costume. Besides, this was a job for Peter Parker, not Spider-Man. Why should he used his powers as a crutch? As long as Spider-Man was dead, his powers would remain dormant.  
  
It was then Peter broke out of his thoughts to see the driver nearly on the tail of the robbers. Peter leaned forward. "Hey, not so close! I don't want them to know we're following them."  
  
The cab driver didn't reply in words, but he released pressure from the gas peddle and the Corvette began to pull further ahead. Peter sat back as the old Corvette pulled onto a back road. Peter instantly sat forward in anticipation. It was at that moment he wished he had his camera with him.  
  
The cab driver pulled into the back road to follow the other car but came to a sudden stop to avoid hitting the back of the car. "Oh crap!" The driver muttered.  
  
Suddenly, Peter's spider-senses went wild. "Get down!"  
  
The driver franticly tried to unbuckle his seat belt but his fingers kept on slipping. He looked out his side window see one of the robbers holding a baseball bat in mid swing. The bat came crashing through the window, shattering the driver side window.  
  
Peter laid down on the seat as another robber with a crowbar swung for the read window. Before long all the side windows were shattered as with the back window. The windshield had taken extensive damage. The cab driver was screaming in fear while Peter remained on the back seat. He rolled on to his back and saw a robber at the door by his feet. He tucked his knees up to his chest and with all his strength he slammed the flat of his feet into the door. The door flew off the hinges and crashed into the robber, sending him and the door flying several feet. Peter climbed out of the car and the other two masked robber ran around the car to attack Peter. The one with the baseball bat swung for Peter's head. Peter ducked under the swing and after the bat swung past his head, he delivered a stunning jab to his ribs. The attacker dropped his bet and yelp in pain.   
  
With an angry look on his face, Peter rose up and slapped him across the face with the back of his arm knocking him out cold. The other man came from behind, but Peter's spider-senses detected him in plenty of time. The attack reached our for Peter's neck but Peter reached up over his shoulder and grabbed him by his wrist.   
  
Peter spun around, resulting in twisting his arm, putting him in great pain. The robber screamed as Peter had his arm in a position which could easily break him arm. Instead, Peter punched him across the face.   
  
Suddenly he felt the barrel of a gun press up against the back of his head. "Hee hee, party's over, kid." It was the robber which he had kicked the door of the cab into.   
  
Peter used the heel of his left foot to stomp on the toes of the robber. The man yelped and Peter took advantage of his created diversion to spin around and knock the gun from his hand. Peter punched him in the gut and while he was leaning forward, gasping for air, he delivered a final uppercut which made the last remaining robber crash into the cab and slide down unconscious.  
  
Peter breathed heavily, relieved that it was over. Suddenly a blinding flash came from the end of road. Standing there behind him with his camera was Eddie Brock. "I'm impressed Parker. You have single-handedly taken out three thugs and made yourself a hero. I have to admit, if we were ever to fight, you would last longer than I had first thought."  
  
"Brock!" Peter stormed towards Eddie and grabbed him by his collar. "How did you know? Something is seriously wrong here. Did you set this up to put me in the spotlight like this?"  
  
"I don't know what you were talking about. I will admit, however, I have been following you and was hoping Spider-Man would soon follow, but this is even better."  
  
"Why are you doing this to me?" Peter tried to shake Brock but he wouldn't have it. In fact, he should no fear in his eyes. He showed no reaction whatsoever to his physical assult.  
  
"If you knew what was good for you, Parker, you would get your hands off me before I loose my temper."  
  
Peter released him and stepped back. "You leave me alone. Stay away from me."  
  
Eddie laughed. "Oh, I have just begun. I will not be satisfied until your life is ruined as you have ruined mine." Eddie laughed as he turned around and walked away. Peter formed a fist with his right hand, fighting the temptation to rip him apart.   
  
* * * *   
  
The next morning, Dr. Curt Connors returned to the laboratory. The first thing he did when arriving to the laboratory was head to his office, where he had put the mouse that he tested his new formula on. The intensity of the moment was overwhelming. He had a strong feeling that after many years, he had successfully created the formula which would regrow missing limbs in mammals.   
  
He opened the door to his office and walked in, closing the foggy glass door shut. There on his desk was the cage with the mouse in it. He walked up to the desk and knelt down to take a closer look at the rodent.   
  
His heart rejoiced to see that the missing leg had indeed grown back. The mouse had all four legs and showed no side effects. It worked perfectly! At last, his wife would have a whole man once again sleeping by her side.   
  
His time of celebration was short when his door opened and a lady scientist like himself entered the room wearing her white lab coat. "Good morning, Dr. Conners. I need your help with something. Would you mind lending your expertise?"  
  
"I would be happy to, Dr. Windstrom. I will be right there. Let me settle in first."  
  
Dr. Windstrom smiled as she backed out of the room, closing the door in front of him. Dr. Connors looked at the mouse as he stood up. "Well, Chester, tonight, after every has left, I will be the next laboratory rat. No offence to you, Chester." Chester squeaked as it spun around in it's cage. 


	10. The Experiment Goes Wrong

Chapter 10  
  
Peter had received a call from Robbie that morning, telling him that the chief wanted to see him right now. Peter tried to convince him to tell J. Jonah Jameson that he had class to go to, but J. Jonah Jameson didn't care about his class. Peter was going to have to skip class in which he was already struggling in. The Neuse was tightening around his neck.  
  
Peter was back in the familiar surroundings of the Daily Bugle. He was walking down aisles between desks and cubicles. Peter had a straight view into the office of J. Jonah Jameson's office and inside with him was Robbie and Eddie Brock who stood there calmly with his hands in his pockets wearing sunglasses. Peter entered the office where J. Jonah Jameson looked up at him coldly while smoking his cigar. "Get in here, Parker and close the door behind you."  
  
Peter gently closed the door and he stared at Brock intensely as he joined the three of them at the desk. "Parker, you better have a damn good explanation for this!" Mr. Jameson slammed this morning's copy of the Daily Bugle onto the desk.   
  
There on the front page was a picture of him taken by Eddie Brock. The headline read, "Super Boy!"  
  
"I was coming from dinner with my girlfriend, and I passed by the grocery store that they robbed. I suppose I felt like I…"  
  
"Could steal the spotlight?" Mr. Jameson replied. "Are you trying to make me look bad or something? There are several million people in the city, and I can guarantee you that not one of them would have tried to play hero. Am I supposed to believe that you are that one in several million people who are that selfless?"  
  
"Mr. Jameson, I…"  
  
"Or maybe, you are trying to sabotage Eddie Brock's great work by preventing Spider-Man from showing his ugly face? I personally believe that it's none of the above. Having seen your past works, I've noticed that you always seem to be right there at the scene at the crimes as they happen. Brock here has been getting his photos of Spider-Man and this one here just by following you around. In all my days of journalism, I have never seen anyone so lucky in my life."  
  
"Sir, I just happen to be friends with Spider-Man. He often gives me details on where he patrols next."  
  
"Well, according to Eddie, that has not been the case for quite awhile, so is there any other lie you care to get off your chest?"   
  
Peter looked over at Eddie to see a smirk on his face. "Sir, I'm not lying. I'm telling you the truth."  
  
"I don't want to hear it, Parker. You're fired! I don't want to see your face in this building again."  
  
Peter's eyes widen with disbelief. "I'm fired?"  
  
"Are you death?" Mr. Jameson said agitatedly pulling his cigar on the ash tray. "You're gone, finished, washed up…take your pick. Eddie, congratulations son, you are hired as of this very moment."  
  
"Thank you, sir," Eddie Brock nodded.  
  
* * * *   
  
The day had dragged by, but at last, evening had finally come. The Laboratory had emptied out, leaving Dr. Connors alone. He had taken off of his white laboratory coat and left it and his briefcase inside of his office. Wearing a tie and a buttoned down sky blue and white striped shirt, he walked over to the wall where all the chemicals were. He reached behind all the chemicals and pulled out the small jar of his red formula.  
  
He stared down at the formula for a minute and took a deep breath. He put the jar down and and picked up the syringe with his only hand. With his thumb, he flicked off the cap and stuck the needle point into the formula. He suck up half a syringe full before pulling it out of the jar. "Here goes nothing."  
  
Instantly, he jammed the needle point into his leg, grimacing as he did so. He emptied the syringe into his body and pulled it out quickly. He put the syringe down on the table for a second and stood there, carefully seeing if there were going to be any side affects that he did not know about. He waited five minutes and nothing happened. It appeared that there would be no side effects.   
  
Doctor Connors took two steps before a great pain began to rip through his entire body. He screamed in agony as the pain sent him falling to the ground. His entire body began to feel as if it was on fire. He rolled on the ground as a natural reaction. Suddenly, he began to hear his shirt and pants rip slightly.   
  
His body began to convulse violently. He reached out with one arm, but instead of his pale skinned hand which he had expected to see, he saw what appeared to be a green claw. He turned to look at his stump for an arm to see it growing a green arm to match his other. Dr. Connors continued to scream, has his head and face began to mutate and change to green. His human teeth began to take form of monstrous fangs.   
  
* * * *   
  
Two security guards had just arrived for duty and began to check around to see if there were anyone left in the building and if they were, get their information to make sure they had a right to be here. A loud crashing noise from one of the rooms startled both men.  
  
"Let's check it out," the heftier of the two said. The two security loosed their guns from their holsters and walked quickly towards where they believed the noise had come from. Before they reached the room, the door exploded, and crashing through the door was some kind of lizard monster. It had the basic form of a human being with two legs and two arms, but it was standing on both his feet and claws nearly in the same manner they saw Spider-man posed himself. "Holy sh…"  
  
The monster, who was previously looking in a different direction, swung it's monstrous head towards them to show the face of a complete beast with giant fangs.  
  
One of the security guards fired his hand gun at the creature, but it would appear that he successfully evaded the bullets as it lunged out for both the security guards. The two guards jumped back in separate directions. The Lizard used it's right claws to rip through the chest of the heafty security gurad, sending his limp and lifeless body tumbling towards the ground."  
  
"Oh my god!" He screamed. He turned and ran for his life, hoping the creature would not come after him.  
  
The Lizard swung it's head towards the other security officer. His head, for no reason, flinched for a split second and it's eyes rolled behind it's head. In less then a second, it's eyes were back to normal with what appeared to be a grin appeared on his face. "Warm-blooded freaksssss. They all mussssst dieeeee!" The lizard leaped, pointing all ten clawed fingers towards the security guard. The screaming of a human male echoed through most of the laboratory before falling into a deadly silence. 


	11. Lost Memory

Chapter 11  
  
Dr. Connors opened his eyes and shot up to find himself on the couch in his living room. How did he get here? He swiped his hand through his hair to feel it all messed up. What happened last night? The last thing he could remember was being at his laboratory, testing his formula on himself.  
  
He looked to his right arm to find that no arm had grown. For some reason, it had failed and not only that, left a major side effect. The whole time from that moment until this morning was gone.   
  
"Curt Connors, have you been sleeping down here all night?" His wife Martha stood there on the stairs looking down at him with folded arms. "You never came home last night! Where have you been?"  
  
"I…I wish I knew," Dr. Connors said dazed and confused.  
  
The phone ringing interrupted her interrogation, much to his gratefulness. He reached over the arm of the couch to pick up the cordless phone on the end table. "Hello?"  
  
"Dr. Connor's!" It was Doctor Windstrom's voice on the other line. "Oh my God, it's horrible!"  
  
"Dr. Windstrom? Calm down. Tell me what's wrong?"  
  
"Our laboratory is trashed and two security officers were found dead lying in pool of blood. It's horrible."  
  
"Okay, calm down doctor. I'm on my way, okay? Just stay put." Dr. Connors hung up the phone.  
  
"Curt, what's wrong? What happened?" Martha walked the rest of the way down the stairs to sit next to him on the couch.   
  
"Someone trashed our laboratory and killed two security guards last night."  
  
"Oh my God, that's horrible," Martha Gasped.   
  
Doctor Connors stood up from the couch. "I have a feeling I am going to be back early."  
  
* * * *   
  
Dr. Connors arrived to the laboratory to find the police surrounding the building. He entered the building and right there at the glass doors stood most of the employees. They had all the elevators and hallways taped off with police and detectives everywhere.  
  
"Dr. Connors?" a voice called out from amongst the large crowd. He turned to see Dr. Windstrom approaching him with a concerned look. "Are you alright? You look like someone tried to stuff down a shredder."  
  
Dr. Connors took a look at the clothing he was wearing and saw that they were indeed in danger of falling of his own body. "Yes, are you alright, Dr. Connors?" A detective approached him holding a not pad in his hand.   
  
He grimaced as his head continued to pound. "I've been better," He admitted.  
  
"What happened to you?" Dr. Windstrom asked.  
  
"I-I wish I knew. I can't remember a thing. I was the last one here, finishing up a personal matter, and the next thing I knew, I was at home waking up on the couch."  
  
"You say you were here after everyone has left?"  
  
"Yes detective, why?" Dr. Connors turned to the detective.  
  
"Because that is the time we believe this had taken place. We have witnesses who testify some strange glass shattering noise at that time, but they had never thought anything about it at the moment."  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't remember any of it. All I remember is darkness as if I had blacked out for whatever reason."  
  
"I see no bruises on your head which would show that you were rendered unconscious. Are you a drinking man, Dr. Connors?"  
  
"Are you suggesting that Dr. Connors trashed the lab and killed those two officers?" Dr. Windstrom said in disbelief. Even if he was drunk, he's not capable of causing such damage. Look at him?" She pointed to his stub. She suddenly realized what she had done to Dr. Connors and was quick to apologize. "I'm sorry, Dr. Connors. I didn't mean to…"  
  
"It's alright," Dr. Connors rolled his eyes. "No offense was taken."  
  
The detective glanced at his stub and nodded while taking notes. "I have to admit, that nearly clears you, but still, you better not leave town anytime soon until we find out what transpired here." The detective turned around and continued his questioning of the other scientists.  
  
* * * *  
  
Peter was at his apartment reading the help wanted classified. He had yet to tell Mary Jane about the loss of his job. Truthfully, he had never told her about his two week suspension from his job. Peter had trouble concentrating on his job search. His whole life was crashing down before his very own eyes. Spider-Man was gone, his job is gone, and his schooling is going. The only thing he had left was Mary Jane. How long would that last when his world continued to crash down.  
  
The doorbell rang, giving him a break from tormenting himself. He stood up and walked to the door and opened it. There standing there in his black trench coat and his sunglasses and with his hands in his pockets was Eddie Brock. Around his neck was his camera.   
  
"What do you want?" Peter said sharply.  
  
Eddie Brock grinned. "Now, Parker, is that any way to greet a visitor? Anyway, it's a tough break for you about loosing your job today."  
  
"Like you didn't have anything to do with it. You lost me my job, what else do you want from me?"  
  
"Direct to the point, aren't you?" Eddie smiled. "Nice little apartment you have here, Parker," Eddie said looking behind Peter. "I would hate for you to lose it."  
  
"Are you threatening me?"  
  
"I'm warning you," Eddie corrected. "I'm warning you ahead of time that I am not going to settle for just you loosing your job. I am going to ruin your life. I hear your Aunt is doing pretty well."  
  
"You leave her out of this!" Peter snapped.  
  
"And I have to admit, your girlfriend is hot. What was her name? Mary Jane? Perhaps she will be better off with a real man like myself." Peter was enraged and his body shook with anger as he formed a fist in his right hand. "Go ahead Parker, hit me with your best shot. I am here on 'official' business. You area the talk of New York city because of your heroics. If you hit me, I will sue you for everything else you have. You will loose this apartment, in fact, I will hit you so hard, that your aunt will be evicted from her house. So go on, hit me with your best punch."  
  
Peter's fist shook violently and he nearly caved in to his anger before he turned around away from Eddie. "Leave!"  
  
"Very good, parker. You still have control of your anger. Let's see how long you can keep it up." Eddie turned around and left. Peter grabbed the door and slammed it violently. 


	12. Talk About Marriage

Chapter 12  
  
The door bell rang a few hours after the visit from Eddie Brock. Peter was not in the mood for another visit. His mind was more on his life going down the tubes. Reluctantly, he made his way to the door and opened it. Standing there was Aunt May. "Aunt May?"  
  
"I hope you don't mind if I come to pay you a visit," Aunt may slowly walked into his apartment. "I wanted to pay you a visit. I don't get to see my favorite nephew too often."  
  
Peter smiled, closing the door behind her and guiding her to his living room, carrying her luggage with him. "It's great to see you, Aunt May. How long are you thinking about staying?"  
  
"A couple of days," Aunt May said after groaning as she gently sat back into the couch. "I would love to see Mary Jane. I was thinking that I would treat the two of you too dinner tonight; that is if you're not too busy."  
  
"Oh no, I'm free the rest of the day," Peter said as he sat down next to her.  
  
"Really? Where are you getting all of you free time? For the past year, you've been so busy, I had seldom seen you."  
  
Peter shrugged. "I suppose I've trying to get my life back in order." Peter smiled.  
  
"I'm happy to hear that. I've always believed that you were taking upon yourself too much, but then again, you've always been like that. You would always frown when you got a B in one of your classes in high school."  
  
"Trust me, Aunt May, things have definitely changed." Peter was thinking about all the bad grades that he had been receiving this whole semester. At that moment, he would do anything for a B.  
  
"So," Aunt May clapped her hands. "Since we're alone, there is something I would like to talk about."  
  
"And what's that, Aunt May?" Peter sat up straight.  
  
"About you and Mary Jane. You two have been dating for a long time, and have been friends since childhood. What are you waiting for? You two are madly in love; why not propose to her?"  
  
Peter looked down at the floor for a brief second before looking back up at Aunt May. "I am ready, believe me Aunt May, I am ready to ask her to marry me, but as of recently, my life has gotten a little complicated. I want to work through these problems before we take the next step."  
  
"Problems? What kind of problems?"  
  
"Problems that I have to work out on my own," Peter replied, not looking at Aunt May face to face.  
  
"Peter, you don't have to share your problems with me, but you are on the verge of getting engaged. A marriage involves working on problems together. Mary Jane loves you greatly. She's going to be a big part of your life now. Don't you think you should talk to her about your problems so both of you can work them out together? If you keep pushing her away, sooner or later, there won't be a marriage and you will lose her because you've never allowed her into your heart."  
  
Once again, her words have spoken to him deeply. She was right, and he knew it, but it was not going to be easy to tell her about his grades and especially about Eddie Brock. "You're right, Aunt May, like always."  
  
"Of course I am. That comes with years of experience."  
  
Peter smiled as he stood up and walked towards the window in the dinning room which the living room turned into at the far end of the living room. He opened up the window for some fresh air to get some cool air into the house. He looked down when from the corner of his eye saw Mary Jane on her way to visit him. Talking about perfect timing!  
  
He then noticed someone walk up to her just outside his door. Peter's nostrils flared as he instantly recognized him as Eddie Brock. He turned and ran for the door. "Excuse me Aunt May for one minute." Peter ran past Aunt May and threw open the front door and ran for the stair well.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Ms. Watson, I presume?" Eddie walked up to Mary Jane.  
  
"Uh, yea?" Mary Jane tilted her head, and tried to think if she knew him or not.  
  
"You do not know me, but I'm a real good friend to your boyfriend, Peter Parker."  
  
"Really? Funny, he never talks to me about you." Mary Jane smiled.  
  
"I'm not surprised in the least," Eddie grinned. "In fact, I think that there is a lot that he…"  
  
Peter came storming out of the door and stormed past Mary Jane and shoved Eddie Brock away. Mary Jane stepped back in complete shock at Peter's aggressive behavior. "Peter!"  
  
"You stay away from MJ, do you hear me?" Peter snapped.  
  
Eddie chuckled. "Have it your way. All I was doing was making small chat, Petey." Eddie turned around and walked away before glancing back towards Mary Jane. "He's got a short temper, doesn't he. I hope he doesn't turn that on you." With that, Eddie Brock walked away and never looked back.  
  
"Peter Parker, what is with you?" Mary Jane said angrily.   
  
Peter looked at her in a way she had never seen before. It almost made her stomach fill with butterflies. "Mary Jane, I'm sorry you had to see that, but please believe me, you don't want to get involved with that man."  
  
"He seemed nice to me," Mary Jane looked past Peter to look at Brock as he disappeared amongst the hundreds of people walking on the sidewalk.  
  
Peter sighed. "I have a confession I have to make. There are things going on in my life that you don't know about, and I'm sorry I have not shared with you these things. I was wrong not to involve you in my life, but I want to change that."  
  
"Okay, talk to me Peter, What's going on?" Mary Jane looked him with sincere look concern for him.   
  
It was the look that made Peter fall in love with her all over again. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have a girl who loved him as much as she did. "I will tell you later, right now, Aunt May is upstairs. She is staying with me for a few days and wants to treat us to dinner. She will be thrilled to see you."  
  
"Really?" Mary Jane smiled with delight. "What are we waiting for? Let's not keep Aunt May waiting."  
  
* * * *   
  
Dr. Connors came home to find his wife sitting on the couch reading. She immediately put the book down and jumped to her feet when he entered through the front door. "Curt, how bad was it?"  
  
"It was pretty bad," Curt walked to the couch and moaned as he nearly collapsed onto the couch. "They wouldn't let me see the damage, and I was questioned by a detective, but that was about all."  
  
"You were questioned? Why?" Martha asked.  
  
"Because I was there about the time this whole thing happened and yet I don't remember any of it."  
  
"You don't remember? Is it possible that something you were working on caused you to black out or something?"   
  
"That's exactly what I think must have happened, but that doesn't explain what happened to my clothes?" Curt looked at his torn clothes that were on his body.  
  
"Let's get your mind off this whole mess. Our son is over at Johnny's house for a sleep over. Go get changed, and let's spend the night on the town, and maybe pick you up some new clothes."  
  
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt." 


	13. The Lizard Attacks

Chapter 13  
  
Dr. Curt Connors and his wife, Martha Connors, were walking through their favorite department store. Dr. Connors was wearing new clothing, having disposed of his tattered clothing. He arm was wrapped around her shoulders as they were walking towards the men's department.  
  
"I haven't seen you this relaxed in a long time," Martha smiled.  
  
"I have to admit that my mind had been so focused on my job for quite some time," he said looking down at Martha by his right side. "For the next several days, I belong to you fully."  
  
"Hmmmm, that sounds perfect," Martha leaned into him and smiled up to his face seductively. "Maybe I will stop here in the lingerie department and pick something up for something special tonight."  
  
"Sounds good," Dr. Connors leaned forward and pecked her on the lips.  
  
"Stay right here, lover boy!" Martha giggled almost like a giddy school girl as she entered the lingerie department.   
  
He stood there and waited patiently, with his hands in his pockets, for his wife. Two security guards were walking by him just doing their normal patrol duties. Just as they past him, suddenly, an image of somebody else's face flashed before his eyes for a split second. He stumbled back a few steps, nearly crashing into a rack of women's clothing.  
  
Another image of somebody flashed before his eyes, this time he saw blood splatter onto his face and scream echoing in his mind. The image again lasted only a split second and this time, he cupped his head with his one hand. His heart began to pound wildly in his chest. Cold sweat began to drench his face and drip down onto his shirt. Another image flashed before his eyes, of another man with a look of horror on his face and the sound of growling echoing in the background.  
  
Dr. Connors screamed as he fell to his knees. People began to curiously gather around him as he knelt on the ground. His breathing became heavy as he heard the words in his mind, "Warm blooded freaks!" His body began to feel as if it was burning off his bones. His shirt ripped across the back of the shoulder blades.  
  
* * * *  
  
Peter, Mary Jane, and Aunt May were walking through the streets of New York. They were on their way to the restaurant for some dinner. As they were walking at Aunt May's pace, she looked up and saw a women's shoe store. "Say, now that I think of it, I could use a new pair of shoes. Will you escort me, darling?" She looked towards Mary Jane.  
  
"I would love to," Mary Jane smiled.   
  
"Peter, would it bother you if just Mary Jane went in with me. I think it's time we had a girl-to-girl chat."  
  
"Uh, sure, I guess that won't be a problem," Peter said, confused by the odd request of his aunt. "I guess I'll stay right here."  
  
"We won't be long Peter, I promise," Aunt May assured him. "Shall we go in, my dear?"  
  
"Sure," Mary Jane opened the door for Aunt May as she walked in. Mary Jane followed her into the store. Peter sighted as he stood out in the middle of the sidewalk as dozens of people continued to walk past him walking in both directions.   
  
Peter began to get curious about what Aunt May was talking to Mary Jane about. He was glad that Aunt May was already making MJ feel like part of the family. The conversation he had with her just less than an hour ago still went through his mind. The more he thought about what Aunt May had said, the more convinced that he was ready to pop the question, but the only problem was that he had to buy a ring. With no current job, buying a ring was out of the question for right now. That shouldn't be too long of a delay, however. The moment he found a new job, he was going to go buy the ring and set up a special date and time to pop the question.   
  
His daydreaming was interrupted by screaming just a block down from where he stood. He looked down the other side of the intersection to see people running for the lives. At that moment, his spider-senses went off. "What is going…"  
  
Suddenly, the walk off that department store up head exploded, sending bricks flying in all direction. Peter looked on in horror as leaping out of the hole was some type of clothed green lizard creature. He was snapping at people.  
  
Peter, reached for his chest but then suddenly realized, he was not wearing his Spider-man costume. Suddenly, the image of the death of the little girl flashed through his mind. When the image was gone, he saw the Lizard terrorizing the people of New York. One of the civilians he swiped with his long claws, killing him instantly. Peter's nostrils began to flare as he reached up and took off his glasses. He began to squeeze until the glasses shatter in the palm of his hand.  
  
At that very moment, he knew what had to be done. Peter looked up at the store signs in front of him. Just next door to the women's shoes store was a holloween costume store. Peter ran inside, and ran through the crowded store which was quickly piling up people who were hiding from the creature. "Excuse me! Pardon Me!"  
  
Peter looked around and there he found it. A Spider-man holloween costume hanging up, with a mask and everything. Spider-man looked through the size numbers, but unluckily, there was none his size. The only one that would fit him was that black costume. It had a white spider on the chest, but it was much larger than the insignia that was on his red and blue costume. The tips of the legs would go around his rib cage and his shoulder blades. The mask was pure black with white eye sockets. "Oh well," Peter shrugged.  
  
* * * *  
  
  
  
The Lizard was prowling down the sidewalk as people remained either in the stores or ran for their lives. One unexpecting young teenage came walking out of a store. She looked to her right to a giant man-sized lizard creature leaping for her with it's claws stretched out.   
  
Out of nowhere, Spider-Man in his black costume landed feet first on the Lizard's back, causing him to crash down onto the ground on his stomach just a foot away from the screaming teenager. Spider-man bounced off his back and forward flipped and spun around at the same time to land on the wall with his toes and his fingertips in his typical spider pose looking down at the Lizard. "Now what are you supposed to be?"  
  
The lizard did not reply. Spider-man could not tell if it could comprehend language or not. The Lizard flew back to his feet and stared up at Spider-man with a loud hissing. He revealed all of his long fangs. "My god man! Have you ever considered filing your teeth down just a bit?" The lizard growled, convincing Spider-man that this thing did not have a soul. It was just some kind of mutated gecko or something. "I suppose you must been a reject mascot of that car insurance company, Geico."  
  
The lizard squatted, in preparation to leap up for Spider-man. Spider-man pointed his right wrist and fired webbing into the face of the Lizard. The lizard shook his head violently, scratching at the webbing like a primitive creature. Spider-man released pushed his feet from the wall and arched them over his head. He let go of the wall with his finger tips to drop to the ground landing on his face facing the Lizard. He brought his fist back and swung, hitting the lizard in the side of his head. Spider-man yelped in agony when the Lizard's head never even budged. He grabbed his write wrist and his entire hand was throbbing in pain. It was like trying to punch through a piece of iron.  
  
The Lizard succeeded in ripping the webbing off its face, and it leaned forward and swung his tail, nailing Spider-man across the chest. He went flying through a giant restaurant window and went plowing through several tables. People jumped out of the way as Spider-man crashed through one last table, splitting the wooden table in half.   
  
Spider-man climbed to his feet and brushed himself off. His black costume had obtained a serious rip across his chest. He looked down at the rip and shook his head. "It's just a cheep piece a cloth. I really whish I had my real costume about right now."  
  
People began to gather around Spider-man and giving him uncertain looks. He could hear a few mumble. "Is that Spider-man?"  
  
Spider-man jumped back out of the window hole to find the Lizard gone. He looked to his left to see nothing but frantic citizens. He looked to his right to see the Lizard running towards more people. It suddenly hit him that that was the direction of the women's shoe store that Aunt May and Mary Jane was in. "I've got to get this creature out of here before anymore get hurt, especially Mary Jane or Aunt May."  
  
* * * *  
  
Mary Jane and Aunt May came out of the store laughing only to notice that Peter was gone. "Dear me? Where did Peter go?" Aunt May asked.  
  
The two women looked around, but when they looked towards their left, they both screamed as a giant lizard was leaping at them for the kil.  
  
* * * *  
  
Spider-man fired a web line and pulled himself up into the air. He swung into the wall and bounced off it with his feet and twisted aiming his feet at the lizard. The lizard was in mid leap when Spider-man's feet came crashing into his ribs. The lizard went flying into the middle of the street where a car, crashed into the Lizard at forty-five miles per hour before the driver pounded on the breaks.  
  
The Lizard's limp body flew forward off the windshield and rolled on the pavement a few times before the limp body came to a stop. Spider-man landed in front of the startled Mary Jane and Aunt May. "Are you two alright?" He asked.  
  
Mary Jane was breathing heavily. "Yea, I think so."  
  
Aunt May was going into shock. "Ooooh my, get me away from me!" She screamed toward Spider-man. She continued to moan.   
  
"Thank you Spider-man!" Mary Jane looked at him with a smile. "It's good to see you back."  
  
Spider-man nodded towards her. "You take her to a safe place. I'll finish up here!" Spider-man stepped out into the street to take a look at the body of the creature, but to his astonishment, the body was gone. Could it have been possible that it was not killed? That was impossible; no one could survive a head on collision with a car like that. Whatever the reason, the body was gone, and he had a eerie feeling that this would not be the last time he would run across this creature. 


	14. The Multipersonalities of the Lizard

Chapter 14  
  
The door was thrown open to Dr. Connors office, and in stumbled Curt Connors. He had broken through the police tape to get to his office. His clothes were shredded as he fell to the ground. "It's me." He gasped as he fell to his knees. He would have fallen flat on his face if he hadn't been close enough to his desk to hold himself up with his arm. "That formula. It has turned me into a beast!"  
  
He pulled himself on his feet and stumbled around the desk. He opened his drawer and pulled out his notes for the formula. "What did I do wrong? What did I do wrong!" He picked up his pile of notes and threw it across his office. He reached down below his desk and grabbed a change of clothes that he kept in his office for emergencies.  
  
He took off his tattered shirt and pants and replaced them with a purple sweat pants a black T-shirt. He reached to the coat rack and put on his white doctor's coat. He couldn't go home like this. He would put his son, Billy, and his wife in danger. Maybe he could come up with a formula that would counter act the other formula he pumped into his body that was causing this reaction.  
  
"No. Don't thinksssss it!" Dr. connor's voice deepened and his eyes turned to a glowing yellow.  
  
His body was thrown to ground. His skin began to turn green and a new limb began to grow. Within the minute, the transformation was complete and leaping onto his feet as the Lizard. "Family is ssssafe. All other warm meatsss must die, essssspecially Sssssspider-man! Hissss scent sssssickensssss me! I mussssst find him and killsssss him!"  
  
* * * *   
  
Peter entered his apartment only to have Mary Jane run into his arms. "Thank god, your safe Peter."  
  
Peter looked past MJ to see his aunt sitting on the couch, showing her relief of his well-being. "I'm sorry I disappeared on you. I was trying to help hide as many people I can from that giant lizard."  
  
"I'm just relieved that you weren't harmed by neither of those two monsters," Aunt may said. "I'm afraid your city is just too frightening of a place for me."  
  
"I can understand that, Aunt May." Peter walked over to his aunt and sat down next to her. Mary Jane walked behind the couch and placed her hands on Peter's shoulders. "Listen, it's getting late. How about first thing tomorrow, we go back to your peaceful suburban home and I will come with you and visit you for a couple days."  
  
"That would be wonderful, Peter, but you're too busy. You have your schooling, and your job."  
  
"I can afford to take a few days off," Peter replied. "Besides, I need to make up all the time I haven't been able to come and see you."  
  
Even Mary Jane was surprised by Peter's offer and his willingness to take time off to spend time with Aunt May. Aunt May slowly stood up from the couch. "Well, if you two will excuse me, I think I'm going to go to bed."  
  
"Let me get something out of my room before you go!" Peter jumped to his feet.  
  
"This is your apartment, Peter." Aunt May smiled.  
  
Peter ran into his room and after a minute of being in there, he came out with a chest. "Okay, Aunt May. I just needed to get a change of clothes."  
  
"Okay. I hope you don't mind me going to bed on you. I just want to forget about tonight."  
  
"It's perfectly okay, Aunt May. Have a good night," Mary Jane said.  
  
Aunt May made her way slowly into Peter's room and closed the door behind her. "I have to admit, Peter, that I am glad that you brought Spider-man back out of the closet. For some reason, he's a big part of who you are. Where did you get that black costume?"  
  
"At a Halloween costume store. I'm just glad it lasted long enough for one battle." Peter replied as he opened the chest. Inside the chest, neatly folded was his Spider-man costume.   
  
Mary Jane chuckled. "Not your typical place to find your heavy latex Spidy costume. Anyway, it's very sweet of you to take time off college and your job, but how can you afford to do it. I have absolutely love having you around more often, but are sure you can afford to spend this much fee time?"  
  
Peter had a lot to tell her about what's been happening: about his loosing his job, about Eddie Brock, about his failing his courses…there was so much to tell her, and he had committed himself to allowing her into his life, but he wasn't quite ready to unload everything on her. "I can afford it," Peter assured her.  
  
"Since we're alone, why don't we have that talk."  
  
"That talk is the most important thing on my mind, MJ, but right now I can't get that creature out of my mind. His body was never found. I am afraid that it's still out there somewhere. Right now, Spider-man needs to make sure if we've seen the last of that thing."  
  
"I understand," Mary Jane replied. "You be careful okay. That monster scares me to death."  
  
Peter's heart went out to her. He put his Spider-man costume down and walked over to Mary Jane and embraced her. For her to come out and say that something scared her, was serious. Mary Jane was the bravest person he had ever seen. Nothing scared her. For her to say that this creature did, she meant it. "I promise you, I will be careful. Nothing will happen to me." 


	15. Sneak Attack

Chapter 15  
  
Peter, in his Spider-man costume, was swinging around New York looking for any signs of that creature was still alive or not. He was extremely happy to be back in his old red and blue costume. The costume was made of very heavy latex, so it could take some beating and come out unscathed.   
  
He was swinging rather low through the city: about six stories from the ground. He was in eye's view of anyone who was looking up in his direction at that precise moment he swung by. He wasn't quite sure if he wanted to confront that creature again. He had a feeling that he had only stopped him the first time by taking him by surprise. Next time, he had a feeling things were going to get intense.   
  
Spider-man landed right on the edge of a rooftop of a small-time grocery store and took a look around. There was no sign of the creature. New York was quiet tonight. He stood up and turned around. He made his way towards the other end of the roof. He was half way there until his spider-senses went off. The moment his senses went off, the world seemed to go in slow motion, including himself. He leaped high above the ground, as the Lizard came leaping at him from behind. The lizard would have gotten the nap of his heel if Spider-man had not began to flip himself backwards at the very last second. His flip pulled his heals upward, just missing the Lizards large claws by inches.   
  
The lizard flew past Spider-man underneath him while Spider-man flipped all the way around to land on his feet. Everything seemed to go back to normal speed and Spider-man was standing face to face with the Lizard. "So, you are still alive. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."  
  
"Loussssy warm-blooded abominationssssss! You mussssst die!"  
  
"You do speak! I guess you're the strong, silent type," Spider-man said, hiding his complete shock of the sudden intelligence he was showing. This was quite a different personality than their first encounter. The first time, he seemed like a mindless, primitive predator. Now, he was expressing intelligence. Where did he come from if he wasn't a lab specimen gone awry?  
  
"You warm blood beasssssts talk too much!" The Lizard hissed. "You diesssss now!" The lizard made another leap for Spider-man. Spider-man ran two steps towards the lizard and then slid underneath the Lizard's leap. Just as the Lizard was over his body who had just stopped sliding, he combined his wrists to form one thick web line which made contact on the lizards chest. The Lizard flew past jerking Spider-man's over his head.  
  
Spider-man, used his super strength and jerked on the web line. The Lizard, in return, was jerked backwards and flew back into the brick wall of the three story taller building connected to the building they were fighting upon.   
  
Spider-man leaped to his feet and began spraying webbing at the Lizzard as fast as it would come out of his wrist. Soon, the Lizard was completely covered by the webbing from his neck down; stuck on the wall. "That should keep you long enough to figure out what I am going to do with you."  
  
"Let me goooossss!" The lizard struggled with the webbing but could not break through the thick layer of webbing that pinned him to the wall. "I will killsss…" His eyes began to roll into the back of his head before his head drooped downward. "Where am I?"  
  
Spider-man stepped back, not quite sure what had happened. "If you're trying to play on my sympathies, you should have thought about that before you killed several innocent people earlier today."  
  
"Spider-man!" The Lizard looked up at him, but instead of a monstrous look on his face, the creature showed sympathy in his eyes. Not only that, but he was talking like a human and not like with a hint of the reptile accent. "Please help me! I can't control it any longer! It's taking control of me!"  
  
"What are you talking about? What's taking control of you?"  
  
Again, the Lizard's eyes began to roll into the back of his eyes. A half minute later, his eyes reappeared and his fangs began to reveal themselves as he let out a growl.   
  
Spider-man's spider-senses went wild, causing him to step back yet another step further from the Lizard. Suddenly, the Lizard went wild, snapping it's jaws and growling at Spider-man. "Just great, this is the mindless creature who I met the first time around. This guy has more personalities than a professional wrestler," he thought to himself.   
  
Suddenly, the Lizard ripped through the webbing as if he had been layered with paper. His strength had increased three fold as he transformed into the mindless predator. Breaking out of the webbing, the Lizard lunged for   
  
Spider-man. Spider-man fired a web line and tried to slide up the web line out of the path of the Lizard, but he had seriously underestimated the speed of the Lizard as it's arm crashed into his gut. The Lizard violently swung his arm, throwing Spider-man to the rooftop.  
  
He crashed into the rooftop with such impact, he nearly broke through the rooftop. In the wake of his impact, he laid there stunned inside the dent. Spider-man's head was spinning as he tried to sit up. "I have never been thrown down with such force by anyone! This thing is not only faster, but is way more stronger than I am! I have to retreat and come up with a new battle plan here!" Spider-man said to himself.  
  
He looked up to see the Lizard leaping towards him with his claws out in front, and it's fangs dripping with drool. Spider-man fired webbing into it's eyes, temporarily blinding it. It was just enough time for Spider-man to raise roll up onto his shoulder blades and used the flat of his to catch the Lizar and catapult him over his head. The Lizard went flying, farther than Spider-man had intended, and it flew right over the ledge of the building.   
  
Spider-man rolled onto his feet and without taking any chances, he fired a web line and swung himself to the wall and crawled a few stories and looked back down to see what has become of the Lizard. He didn't have to wait long before seeing the Lizard leap back over the ledge onto the roof top. It sniffed the air for a brief second before looking up to see him. "I should be safe from him up here for a few seconds." He comforted himself. The Lizard charged the wall, and at that moment his spider-senses went wild. "You've got to be kidding me!"  
  
The lizard crawled up the wall faster than Spider-man had anticipated. He desperately fired a web line and tried to swing off the building, but the Lizard had already caught him and grabbed him by the ankle. Spider-man found himself stuck in mid air. His web line kept him up, but he could not move with the Lizard holding onto his ankle. "Let me go!" He kicked at the Lizard's hand.  
  
It released his ankle, shaking his wrist. Spider-man slowly sung forward, but because the Lizard had grabbed his ankle, he did not have enough force to swing to the next building. He found himself dangling off the web line, high above an alleyway. Directly below him was a garbage dumpster up against a pointed metal fence. "Just great!"  
  
The lizard hissed as he saw Spider-man hanging there and showed its drooling fangs. It threw itself off the wall and it came flying towards Spider-Man. Spider-man slid up the web line, with the bottom of his right arm directly in front of his face and as he did so, he kicked the Lizard underneath its chin, sending him falling down to the alleyway backwards.  
  
Spider-man watched as it fell to the ground and looked away just as the Lizard fell onto one of the metal fence's spikes. Spider-man lowered himself to the alley way and stood there to see the Lizard, quite dead, as the spike hand punctured straight through its back and out its stomach. "This was not quite the way I was hoping to end this, but at least the city is safe." 


	16. Not Over Yet

Chapter 16  
  
Spider-man's entire body was aching after his battle with the lizard creature. He crawled back up the building where he had fought with the Lizard to get out of view of anyone that might walk by. He sat down, leaning up against the wall and rested. That battle took a lot from him. His body was aching from the blows he received from the Lizard.  
  
Suddenly, his spider-senses went wild once again. "You've got to be kidding me!"  
  
The Lizard came leaping over the ledge and landed on the roof top. Spider-man jumped back up onto his feet. "Die, warm-blooded abominationsssss!" The Lizard charged at Spider-man at full speed. Spider-man fired webbing towards the feet, hoping to stick him to the ground, but the Lizard's speed helped him leap up over the webbing. Before Spider-man could react; in mid air, the Lizard spun around, whipping his tail like a whip into his chest. It sent Spider-man crashing into the wall. Spider-man, after coming to his senses, took a step away from the wall. "My spider-senses are having trouble warning me in time against this thing!"   
  
His spider-senses continued to ring continuously, and he was falling behind all the danger warnings that he was getting. He missed one dangerous warning which resulted in a large claw grabbing him by the head. The Lizard slammed his head violently into the brick wall, leaving a giant crack in the bricks. Spider-man began to collapse to the ground when the Lizard caught him by his neck and pinned him up against the wall. With his other hand, he raised his pointed claws inches away from Spider-man's eye pieces and his eye sockets that were behind the eye pieces. He gasped for air, struggling to looses the Lizards grip on his own throat.   
  
"Nowssss, you diesssss, Sssssspider-man!" Before he could deliver the fatal blow, his eyes rolled back into his eye sockets for a brief second before looking back towards Spider-Man, who was helpless to do anything to stop the Lizard from killing him. "No, have to fight it!" The Lizard's speech again showed the tint of a human accent. He dropped Spider-man to the ground. "Must get out of here! Can't control it much longer!" The Lizard turned around and ran off, leaping over the ledge.  
  
Spider-man sat up, his head still spinning from his head slamming into the wall. Reaching for his mask, he slid it off. His lip was busted open, with blood streaked against his chin. That was too close. That lizard creature was stronger, faster, and is just as agile as he was not to mention having similar capabilities as he did. On top of all, there was no way to stop it; it can not be killed. This may be one villain that he had no hope to stop.  
  
The laboratory was reopened to the employees and Dr. Winstrom was one of the first ones there, figuring that she would run into Dr. Connors who always was the first one to arrive. He was obsessed with work for some reason. Anyway, she had not seen him for quite some time, and she was beginning to worry. His wife called her, telling her that she had not seen him since the day that lizard creature attacked. Martha was terribly worried about her husband's well being and being a friend of the family, Dr. Windstrom agreed to try to help find out where Dr. Connnors could be.   
  
She knocked on the door to Dr. Connors office, but not to her surprise, there was no response. Reaching down, she tested to see if the door locked, but the door opened when she twisted the door handle and gently pushed. "Dr. Connors?" She put her head into the office and looked around to find the office empty.   
  
She pushed the door all the way open and stepped into the office. The office was a mess, which was very unusual for Dr. Connors who was usually always neat and tidy. There on front of the desk was a little mouse cage with a little white mouse squeaking away.  
  
She took a closer look at the mouse to notice that it was the same mouse that she had seen before which had only three legs, but somehow, it now had four. "What the hell? How is this possible?"  
  
She stood up straight and notice notes scattered all over the desk. Curiously, she walked around the desk and took a look at the notes. On the front page was a basic outline of a person missing an arm. Next to that was the basic outline of a person with both arms. Underneath them was a formula. She flipped through a few pages and continued to read through the notes. After reading a few paragraphs, she gasped, nearly dropping the notes onto the floor. "He's trying to take the DNA of a lizard and make a formula that would regrow lost limbs. Oh my god!" A thought suddenly dawned on her, which explained everything that had been going on here perfectly.  
  
Peter walked through the front door to his apartment, expecting to find Aunt May fast asleep in his bedroom and his living room empty, but instead, he found Mary Jane sitting on his couch. When she saw him come in, she leaped to her feet. "Mary Jane? I thought you would have gone back to your apartment by now."  
  
"I suppose I was just a little nervous with you looking for that monster." Mary Jane at that moment notice the bruising on his face and his swollen lip. "Peter, are you okay?" She rushed to him and began to examine his wounds.  
  
"I'll be okay, I just want to sit down and relax. As you can probably tell, I had another confrontation with that thing." Peter said, moaning as he sat down.  
  
"Peter, I'm concerned. You've got some pretty nasty bumps here."  
  
"I'll be alright after a good night sleep," Peter replied. "First thing tomorrow, I will go with Aunt May out of the city for awhile. It'll give me some time to think about how to stop that monster. It's funny though, that monster displayed some intelligence. He displayed hatred for all human life. He also had more of a human-like side who pleaded for me to help him."  
  
"Are you telling me you think that is not just a monster, but has a soul?"  
  
"Exactly!" Peter nodded. "That thing has three different personalities. I don't think that mindless predator is the real one. He may be human."  
  
"What could have happened to him to turn him into such a beast?" Mary Jane replied.   
  
"I have no idea," Peter replied. "Right now, I just want to lay down and get some sleep. I ache all over."  
  
"I'll go and let you get some sleep, and maybe I'll pay you two a visit sometime tomorrow evening," She leaned forward and the two of the kissed passionately. "Catch you around, Tiger!"  
  
Mary Jane smiled as she turned around and made her way to the door. "MJ!" Peter called out to her as she opened the front door. She turned around, her beautiful red hair swirling to catch up to the back of her neck. "I love you."  
  
Those words brought a radiating smile from Mary Jane. "I love you too, Tiger!" 


	17. The Talk

Chapter 17  
  
Peter and Aunt May were on her front porch on the swinging bench. Night had fallen, and Peters bruises were almost unnoticeable. He had to explain to Aunt May that he found himself in a scuffle while working for the Bugle in getting photographs. That relieve her enough to drop the subject. Earlier in the day, they left the city and came back to Aunt May's house. It was a new house from where Peter had grown up. The very house that Peter grew up in was destroyed by the Green Goblin.   
  
"You want some lemonade, Peter?" Aunt May asked, already in process of standing to her feet.  
  
"Sounds great," Peter replied with a smile.   
  
She stood up and slowly entered the house, leaving Peter alone on the swinging bench. He wasn't alone for long when Mary Jane came walking down the sidewalk waving towards Peter. Peter shot up to his feet and stood there until Mary Jane stepped up onto the pourch. "Hey, Tiger."  
  
Aunt May had two glasses of Lemonade in her hands and was ready to walk back out to the front porch, but then she saw Mary Jane walking up to the front porch from the window. She smiled and turned around back towards the kitchen, so that the two of them could have time alone.  
  
Mary Jane and Peter sat on the swinging bench together, staring out at the full moon that was shining down their way. It was a beautiful sight. "It's such a beautiful night tonight," Mary Jane commented staring out into the stars.  
  
"Yea," Peter agreed. He looked down to see Eddie Brock walking down the sidewalk. "Unfortunatly, it just got ruined. Stay here, MJ." Peter stood up and walked out to meet Brock before he got any closer to the house. "How did you find me? What is it you want?"  
  
Eddie Brock grinned. "Do I always have to repeat my intentions? I'm here to speak with your little Aunt May."  
  
"You stay away from her! You stay away from this house or I'll…"  
  
"What? Hit me?" Eddie grinned. "Remember, lay a finger on me, and I will slap you with a lawsuit. Even your Aunt will be evicted by such a lawsuit."  
  
"Just leave. I will not let you speak to her or my girlfriend!" Peter growled.  
  
"Oh, I will talk to your aunt. I will not leave here until I do, and the only way you are going to stop me is to hit me with your best shot!" Eddie Brock brushed him aside to clear a path towards the front door.  
  
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Before Peter knew it, he grabbed Brock by the arm, pulled him back in front of him and delivered a powerful punch across the face. Eddie went flying back a few feet and landed on his rear. The sunglasses he was wearing were broken and when he took them off and found that to be so, he threw it to the side as he stood up. "I have to admit, I have underestimated your strength. Someone as scrawny as you should not have so much strength. That only proves that you have something to hide, and I'm going to find out what." Eddie brushed himself off and turned around and walked off. He turned around once to grin towards Peter. "Oh, by the way, you can expect to hear from my lawyer in about two or three weeks. I would take this time to start helping your little aunt pack her bags, seeing that she will lose her house as well."  
  
Eddie Brock walked off leaving Peter standing there in his fury. As soon as he was out of sight, Peter spun around to find Mary Jane standing on the porch in alarm. Peter slowly walked back to the porch slowly, thinking about what had just happened, what he should do, and what he should tell Mary Jane. When he stepped up onto the porch, Mary Jane put a hand on his shoulder. "I have never seen you loose your temper like that. I think we need to have that talk right now."  
  
Peter nodded as he walked past Mary Jane and sat on the swinging bench. Mary Jane sat down next to him and crossed her legs, getting comfortable for the talk. Peter took a deep breath as he began to catch her up on what has been happening. "Mary Jane, I have to apologize to you for the way I just acted and for keeping what I'm about to tell you away from you. My life is in ruins, Mary Jane. I am failing every single class in college. I am almost ready to be kicked out of the college."  
  
"I had a feeling that your classes were suffering, but I had no idea it was this bad," Mary Jane replied with a deep concern evident in her face and voice. "There has to be more than just that on your mind."  
  
"I'm afraid that is the very least of what's been going on. I lost my job a few days ago."  
  
"What? Why? What did you do?"  
  
Peter sighed. "Well at first, it was my lack of performance. I have been so bogged down that I couldn't handle it all, but the decision game when that man who you just saw, Eddie Brock, framed me of wrong doing."  
  
"Why would he do such a thing? What could you have possibly done to him to get him so mad at you?"  
  
"Mr. Jameson gave me his full time job a few years ago. For some reason, He has become so obsessed with me, he has strived to ruin my life, and he has done it. My life is over. As we speak, he's about to hire a lawyer to sue me for punching him right now. He has been taunting me for quite a while, slowly trying to make me loose everything I hold dear, and he has won. That lawsuit will cause me to loose not only my apartment, but it will take selling this house to pay the lawsuit and court costs, forcing Aunt May and myself to live out onto the streets."  
  
"Oh Peter!" She held him tightly in his arms for a minute before Peter sat back up straight, tears in both of their eyes. "What are you going to do now?"  
  
Peter was afraid she was going to ask that question, and he has been franticly trying to think of something that could be done in his mind while explaining this to Mary Jane. "There is only one thing I can think of doing. I am going to leave New York forever, and leave Peter Parker behind."  
  
"What are you talking about?" This hit Mary Jane like a ton of bricks. "You're just going to run away without a fight?"  
  
"Brock is too intelligent. If I stay here as Peter Parker, things are going to get worse. I'm afraid that this mess will kill Aunt May and put you in danger of a similar fate than ours. I can't live with that. The only way I can think of saving Aunt May is leaving New York, change my name, and work twice has hard to anonymously send Aunt May Money to find a new home to live in. Besides, I'm sure another city is in great need of Spider-man's assistance."  
  
"What about me, Peter!" Mary Jane's eyes swelled up as tears formed in her eyes.  
  
Peter's heart was broken as he looked up at her tear drenched face. "For your sake, it is better that we end this now and go our separate ways. Maybe, Brock won't hound you."  
  
Mary Jane looked down weeping. Before Peter could say anymore, his spider-senses went wild. His eyes widen in horror, knowing full well what was about to happen. "JUMP!" Peter screamed as he grabbed Mary Jane by the shoulder and leaped off the porch, pulling her off the bench as well. They had just made the leap as the Lizard came crashing into the swinging bench, causing it to collapse. The lizard's tale crashed through the front window shattering it.  
  
Aunt May approached the front window hearing a commotion going on outside. Just as she reached the window, the glass shattered. She screamed as she looked away and stumbled backwards. Luckily, she had looked away from the window just in time to avoid sustaining injury from the glass.  
  
Peter looked up at the Lizard in horror. It was clear, the mindless predator had control of the body at this time. "It recognizes my scent. It knows I'm Spider-man!" Peter thought to himself.  
  
Mary Jane fell in front of the bushes while Peter fell on the other side of the walkway leading to the stairs up to the porch. Mary Jane shook her head, coming to her senses. She looked up at the porch and saw the Lizard standing there hunching towards Peter with drooling fangs. She let out a scream of terror, something that almost did not seem natural to her.  
  
Her screaming caught the Lizard's attention. It hunched towards her with all his fangs revealed. It started it's way towards Mary Jane, causing her to crawl backwards screaming.  
  
Peter jumped to his feet and fired a web line from his right wrist. The web line attached itself to the side of the Lizard's head and Peter tugged on the web line, causing the Lizard to look towards him. "Hey, it's me you want! Remember?"   
  
The lizard growled as he changed his course back towards Peter. Peter walked backwards as the Lizard matched each step he made backs with a step closer. Soon, it was off the porch completely. "MJ, get inside and protect Aunt May!"  
  
"Right!" Mary Jane nodded. She cautiously stood up and slowly back away several steps, not taking her eyes off the creature. When she felt comfortable enough, she turned and ran for the back door.  
  
Letting out a giant growl, the Lizard leaped for Peter. Peter rolled onto his back, and used his feet to catapult the Lizard into the tree, back first   
  
upside down.  
  
Mary Jane ran into the living room to find Aunt May standing in the middle of the room. She turned to see Mary Jane come in. "What's going on out there?"  
  
"Stay away from the windows, Aunt May. That lizard creature is out there!"  
  
"Where's Peter?" Aunt May asked franticly.  
  
"That creature attacked us while we were talking. He's still out there, but Spider-man has come to the rescue. He's fighting to save Peter right now."  
  
"Spider-man?" Aunt May said in disbelief.  
  
The lizard swung his tail, slapping Peter across the chest, sending him flying into the tree that he had sent the Lizard into just moments ago. In a matter of moments, the Lizard had gain the upper hand over Peter and was quickly building up momentum. Peter stunned by that attack shook his head. Before he could react, the Lizard swiped his long claws across Peter's chess. Peter screamed in agony, as his chest was instantly covered by his own blood. Peter collapsed to his knees, fighting to stay conscious.  
  
The Lizard leaned over Peter and opened it's mouth as it's jaws expanded like a snake as it's mouth approached Peter's skull, ready to engulf his entire head. Suddenly it's eyes began to roll for a few seconds before returning back to normal. The Lizard backed away and looked down at Peter confusingly. "My sssssences hasssss failed me for sssssssome reassssson. Thissssss isssss not Ssssspider-man! I musssssst find Sssssspider-man! Thissss abomination isssss asssss good asssss dead." The Lizard leaped off and disappeared from sight.  
  
The front door to Aunt May's house cracked open and peeking out of the crack was Mary Jane. She looked around to see if the Lizard was still in sight. Once she was convinced it was gone, she threw the door open and ran to Peter. "Oh my god, Peter!" She knelt down besides him and saw his bloody chest. "Can you walk?"  
  
Peter didn't reply, he was barely coherent. Mary Jane helped him up and helped him back inside the house. "Peter!" Aunt May screamed in horror. Peter, loosing his strength, collapsed onto the floor and involuntarily rolled onto his back.  
  
"I'll call 911!" Aunt May cried.  
  
"Wait!" Mary Jane looked up to her. She jumped to her purse on the couch and pulled out a business card. "After you call 911, call this doctor at CMU Hospital. He needs to be the one to treat Peter. He's the only one who can."  
  
"I don't understand why, but okay!" Aunt May replied as she rushed off to the kitchen.  
  
On the floor, Peter eyes began to flutter while Mary Jane grabbed her sweater. "Peter? Hold on Peter! PETER!" She screamed. She used her sweater to soak up the blood and apply pressure to his chest. The fluttering ceased as he slipped into unconsciousness. 


	18. MJs Secret

Chapter 18  
  
Paramedics raced Peter's stretcher to the emergency room. A doctor was there to great Mary Jane and Aunt May. "I assure you, we will do our best to save his life." The doctor said. "I'll keep you updated on his condition."  
  
"Thank you, Dr. Benson," Mary Jane replied. She turned to look at Aunt May. "There are some seats for us right over there. I just want to ask the doctor something. He's a personal friend of mine,"  
  
"I understand," Aunt May smiled faintly while heading of the seating area in the waiting room.   
  
Mary Jane folded her arms, deeply concerned for Peter as she looked up at the Doctor. "Truthfully, what is his condition?"  
  
Dr. Benson shook his head. "He's lost a lot of blood. From the brief look I got of his wounds, they are very deep. I can't lie to you, Ms. Watson, I've lost many patients with less server wounds that this."  
  
"I asked you to do this, because as a personal friend, I know you can keep a secret, and this is a bigger secret than my own that you have kept confidential, and I eternally grateful for."  
  
"I am just glad to see you turn out beautifully. Many young girls in your situation lives go down the drain after going through what you have when you were younger."  
  
Mary Jane nodded. "I am a very strong woman. Anyway, I think you will find Peter's blood work a little different. His DNA is not like any you will have and ever will see again."  
  
"Different you say?" The Doctor looked at her curiously. "How so? I mean, I did notice some strange markings on his wrists. Does this have anything to do with it?"  
  
"Doctor, this is by far a more important secret that I need you to keep a secret. You are the only one I can trust with it."  
  
Dr. Benson smiled gently. "I have kept your secret these many years. You can tell me, no matter what it is."  
  
Mary Jane and Aunt May sat in the waiting room waiting for word on Peter's condition. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them before Aunt May broke the silence. "You know, I am getting old in my age, and when you get to be my age, change does not come easy."  
  
"What are you talking about, Aunt May?" Mary Jane looked towards Aunt May.  
  
"I have been thinking that I have totally misjudged Spider-man. I am old schooled, and to see some someone going above the law is just wrong, especially Spider-man, who has these strange super powers which is not normal. I believed that no one should have that much power because they would cause much devastation, and I put Spider-man as one of these. I was wrong about him. Spider-man is not a monster like I thought he was. He is the one in the million who uses his unnatural powers for good, including coming to the rescue of Peter. I owe Spider-man for what he has done."  
  
Mary Jane smiled, happy to hear her say that. Someday in the near future, Peter would be able to tell her that he was Spider-man. A lot of Peter's worries would be over when that day came.  
  
Dr. Benson walked up to the two women. Mary Jane jumped up to her feet instantly. He let out a sigh before updating them on the situation. "Mr. Parker is still alive, but is in critical condition. We can stitch the gashes up because the wounds are so close, there is no skin to hold the stitches in, which presented a dangerous problem. Without stiches, theres almost nothing we can do to stop the bleeding. We have his chest heavily wrapped up with lots of pressure, and with any luck, the bleeding will stop, but it's going to be increasingly difficult for it to stop when we have to change the bandages every hour. He's already lost a lot of blood all ready. If it doesn't stop anytime soon, he may not make it."  
  
"Oh deer," Aunt May said woefully.  
  
Mary Jane looked down to her feet, trying to hide the tears in her eyes before looking back up at the doctor. "Can I see him?"  
  
"I guess I can allow that for a few minutes," The doctor replied.   
  
Mary Jane looked back towards Aunt May. "Aunt May, do you want to go see Peter?"  
  
"You go ahead, my dear. I'll leave you two alone for a little awhile."  
  
Mary Jane nodded in acknowledgment as she followed the doctor to Peter's room. "You were right about Mr. Parker's blood work. I have never seen anything like it. His DNA has been mutated or something. I have a feeling that it's those unique DNA strands that have helped keep him alive this far. If it was any other person, I would say that he would not pull through, but with Mr. Parker, I don't know what to say."  
  
"Now you know why it is important that you keep this a secret," Mary Jane replied.   
  
"I wouldn't dream of revealing his identity to the world. His secret is safe with me." He replied, stepping aside of the doorway for her.  
  
Mary Jane entered the dark room and found Peter laying in bed, motionless. His heart monitor showed a steady heart pace. Mary Jane pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down. The blankets came up below his chest, revealing the thick white bandage on his chest which was soaked with blood. Peter looked peaceful in his bed. His glasses were taken off and put along with his other personal belongings, including the Spider-man costume.   
  
Mary Jane was glad that Dr. Benson was treating Peter. She knew that he would keep the secret and do whatever it takes to keep it. She was sure the costume was in a safe place. Right now, she was more concerned about Peter. She could not remember a time where he looked so fragile and pale.   
  
"Peter, you've got to come back to me. Don't give up on me; do you hear me? I don't care what that Brock guy did to you, it's not worth giving up without a fight." Mary Jane lost control of her emotions as her tears soaked her face. "I love you Peter Parker, and I don't care if we have to live in a cardboard box; I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Don't you leave me alone now." She reached out and held his hand in her right hand. 


	19. Mrs Connors Request

Chapter 19  
  
The next morning, Mary Jane was there by Peter bed side. Things were looking up when Dr. Benson informed her that his wound was healing at an above average rate. She was determined to be there when he woke up.  
  
She didn't have to wait long. Peter's hand began to twitch underneath her hands. Her heart leaped as she sat up and looked up at his face. His eyes fluttered open and they dazedly looked over at Mary Jane whose wore a radiating smile. "Wha? What happened? Where am I?"  
  
"You're lucky to be alive right now. You're in the hospital."  
  
Everything started to come back to him: the Eddie Brock situation, the Lizard attack at Aunt May's house, everything. Mary Jane's reply suddenly dawned on him and he began to sit up. "The hospital? I can't be here, I…"  
  
"Peter, stop moving or you'll reopen your wounds!" Mary Jane gently pushed him back down.  
  
"My secret will be revealed here! I can't be treated here!"  
  
"Mr. Parker, it's good to see you awake!" Dr. Benson entered the room with Peter's charts in his hand.   
  
"Doctor, I have to get out of here. No offence, but I can't be here."  
  
"If you are referring to your secret identity, it's safe with me. You have nothing to worried about. Your wounds, on the other hand, should be something to worry about."  
  
Peter's eyes widen in horror. "You know who I am?"  
  
"Peter, you can trust him. He will not tell anyone that you are Spider-man?"  
  
Peter's heart began to race. "How can I know if I can? It's not a small-time secret. If the wrong people find out, you and Aunt May will be hurt!"  
  
Mary Jane smiled as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Peter, I will vouch for Dr. Benson, because he has kept my secret all these years."  
  
"Your secret? You have a secret?" Peter looked at her with a confused look on his face.  
  
"See how trustworthy he is? Not even you know about my secret." Mary Jane smiled, but her smiled faded away as she took a deep breath. "Do you remember high school, Peter?"  
  
"Of course. We lived next to each other. You lived with your father and… "  
  
"Yea, well you know how violent my fights were with my father who was always drunk."  
  
"How can I forget?" Peter replied.  
  
"I know we weren't dating at that time, but did you ever notice that there were stretches of time that I missed classes?"  
  
"Yea, now that you mention it, I remember you missing school for two whole week."  
  
Mary Jane nodded. "Well, the fights between my father and I got violent a few times."  
  
Peter's head tilted in his pillow. "Your father hit you?"  
  
Mary Jane nodded. "Quite a few times. I've been bruised quite a few time by his abuse. That time I missed two weeks of school was because he broke one of my ribs."  
  
"If your father physically abused you, why have you never reported it?"  
  
Tears strolled down the sides of her face. "I didn't want anyone to know about the abuse. I didn't want anyone to see the bruises and how much physical pain I was in. If I had reported it, I would have been taken away and been forced to stay with a foster family, and that was the last thing I wanted. I was determined to graduated high school and then move out on my own. Dr. Benson treated me during my high school years, and despite the possibility of being stripped of his medical practice, he has kept this a secret."  
  
"She is one strong woman," Dr. Benson said. "To survive her entire life of abuse from her father and to still make her dreams come true is unheard of."  
  
Peter looked at the doctor. "I am convinced that you are willing to keep my secret, but I don't understand why. This is a far bigger secret to keep hidden, and you will loose your practice for sure if it gets out."  
  
"Because, it's the least I can do for you. I am forever in your debt. Do you remember a few years back at the Macy's Word Day Festival? You rescued a boy from the collapsing concert stage when that Green Goblin character attacked."  
  
"I remember," Peter replied.  
  
"That boy you saved was my son. You saved him and handed him safely into my wife's arms. When she came home that day and told me what happened, I promised myself that someday I would find a way to help Spider-man out in any way I could. Me helping you know is just the beginning of my way of saying thank you for saving my boy's life. If you ever need it, I will come to your house or apartment and treat your wounds. It's the least I can do."  
  
"I appreciate it, doctor," Peter replied.  
  
There was a knock at the door and there stood Aunt May holding on to her purse. "I'm glad to see you awake!" Aunt May entered the room.  
  
"Aunt May!" Peter smiled. "I'm sorry if I scared you, Aunt May. If it wasn't for Spider-man, I may not be here."  
  
"That was what Mary Jane told me," Aunt May placed a hand on her shoulder. "That lizard creature is horrific!" Aunt May said, shaking her head. "Excuse my French, but I hope that Spider-man can stop him!"  
  
Peter's looked at her in disbelief. "I though you hated Spider-man, Aunt May."  
  
"I've had a change of heart. He saved my nephew, after all. You can say I've became a big fan of Spider-man now."  
  
There was a knock at the door and walking into the room was Martha Connors. "Mrs. Connors!" Peter said.  
  
"It's a little crowded in here. I'll come back in a little while and check up your progress," Dr. Benson said, exited out of the crowded room.  
  
"I am so sorry to bother you, Peter, especially when your seriously hurt, but this is kind of an emergency," Martha Connors said, entering the room.  
  
"It's no problem," Peter replied.  
  
"From the photographs I've seen on the Daily Planet for a long while, I get the sense that you are close to Spider-man. Is that true?" She asked.  
  
"I am an acquaintance of his, yes," Peter replied.  
  
"I need to get a message to Spider-man right-a-way, and you are the only one I could think of who might know of a way to get in contact with him. I need speak with Spider-man right away regarding what the Daily Planet is now naming the Lizard. I have information about the Lizard that Spider-man needs to know. I am so sorry to come to you in your condition, but do you know of anyway that I can speak to Spider-man about this issue."  
  
"I will make sure, one way or another, that he knows about your request to see him," Peter replied. 


	20. Talk with Mrs Connors

Chapter 20  
  
"I think I'm going to head on home for awhile," Aunt May said, standing up after spending some time with Peter and Mary Jane.  
  
"I'm going to stay for a bit longer," Mary Jane replied.  
  
"I figured you would. I'll come back to visit you tonight," Aunt May said, gently tapping on Peter's wrist.  
  
"I look forward to it," Peter smiled.  
  
Aunt May turned around and slowly left the hospital room. As soon as she was gone, Peter began to sit up and disconnect the heart monitor and the IV that was pumping blood into his arm. "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"I have a job to do," Peter replied. "Where's my costume?"  
  
Mary Jane walked over to the dresser and opened a shelf. Mary Jane pulled out his Spidey costume and placed it on the bed. She took several steps away from the bed and turned her back towards Peter as he slowly climbed off the bed and began to get out of the hospital gown. "Peter, no, you can't do this! You are in no condition to go out playing Spider-man."  
  
"I don't have any choice, MJ. The Lizard has to be stopped and I'm the only one who can stop him." Peter replied as he got dressed into his Spider-man costume.  
  
"Peter, I don't want you to fight this thing. Let someone else do it. Maybe that Daredevil character that I hear about can handle it. That thing nearly killed you. I won't wait here so you can swing off and get killed by that thing."  
  
Peter, in his Spider-man costume, turned around towards Mary Jane. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "MJ, you know I have to do this. This thing can find me even if I go into hiding. Besides, Mrs. Connors may have something that might show me a weakness."  
  
Mary Jane turned around to face Peter. There were three tears across the chest. The spider logo was virtually gone. She could see the blood soaked white bandage on the other side of the costume. "Peter, please don't go. I don't want to lose you. At least, wait a week when you are healthy. If you go out now, it will rip you to shreds! I can not stand by and watch you throw your life away so recklessly."  
  
Peter put his Spider-man's mask over his head, still looking towards Mary Jane. "If I don't, then the Lizard will find us again and this time, he may go after you or Aunt May. I love you with all my heart, MJ, and that is why I must make a stand right here, and right now. I must stop the Lizard at all costs before he strikes again."  
  
Tears fell from Mary Jane's eyes as she turned her back towards him. "Then go, but don't expect me to wait up for you. Don't expect me to be happy about going to get yourself killed."  
  
There was a painful silence between the two of them, but Mary Jane wasn't expecting a reply from Peter. After a minute, she turned back around to find herself standing alone in the room with the window open.  
  
Spider-man was swinging through New York. He was heading towards Mrs. Connor's house, according to the directions she had given him back in the hospital room. The words that Mary Jane had said as he was leaving continued to echo through his mind. His chest was in a great pain, but in his opinion, it was better to be in physical pain now, then possibly be in emotional pain if the Lizard got a hold of Mary Jane.   
  
His Spider-senses alerted him of trouble and he swung low to the ground to see what was causing his sense to go off. He knew instantly that it was not the Lizard: the tingling would be a lot more violent. Down below, he saw someone in an alleyway kneeling, planting some kind of device. It was obvious to him that it was something that had caused his senses to go off.  
  
The bomb was almost set, and in a short time from now, the show would begin. After the explosion, Spider-man would show up and his job would be complete. He was about to activate the bomb when a web line attached itself to his shoulder and he found himself pulled away from the bomb. Spider-man landed in front of him and grabbed him by the collar. "What are you doing here!" the man shouted.  
  
"What do you think I'm doing you? I'm stopping you from blowing this building up sky high!" Spider-man replied. "Wait a minute, I know you! You're…"  
  
"Quentin Beck, Hollywood stuntman, if it's any of your concern!" He snapped.  
  
"Never heard of you, but your face is familiar. You're the mugger I stopped a few days ago. How did you get out of prison so fast?"  
  
"I won't tell you anything! I did this all to prove that I can do the greatest stunt of all, to kill Spider-man! I did it all, burned down the theater, mugged that jogger, everything."  
  
Spider-man jerked Quentin up to his face, their noses nearly touching. "You were responsible for the theater as well? That tells me that you're doing this for money. Who paid you? TELL ME!" Spider-man slammed him up against the brick wall.  
  
"You won't harm me. It's not in you." Quentin smirked.  
  
"My good manners and my patience are running short as of late." Spider-man pointed his wrist up to his mouth and nose. "Tell me, or I may just plug up your sources of oxygen."  
  
"You think that I'm doing this strictly for money? That's a joke! Yea, I'm doin' this for money, but I can care less about that. You can bring him down for all I care. The name of the bum is Eddie Brock. He had wanted to get photo's of you so he could put a brat kid out of a job. He came to me, and the job was right up my alley. A chance to study you in action."  
  
"Brock, I should have guessed!" Spider-man muttered. He sprayed Quentin with enough webbing to stick him to the wall. "Hang around and the police will pick you up by the time the webbing dissolves."  
  
Spider-man fired a web line and swung away. Quentin smirked as he watched Spider-man swing away. "Fascinating! I think I'm near done with my little investigation. It won't be long until I will bring him to his knees."  
  
Spider-man continued his way towards Martha Connor's house. Everything was becoming clear to him. That was how Eddie Brock was getting all the pictures; he was setting the situations up. He put innocent people life's, including Mary Jane's, in jeopardy. He was going to deal with Brock, but not now. He had a bigger problem than Brock: someone more dangerous than him.   
  
Martha Connors was at home on the couch, reading a book. Her son, Billy was fast asleep that evening, leaving her alone. She felt so lonely not having her husband there with her. She found it hard to concentrate on the book. She had read the same line ten times. Finally, she gave up, and she threw the book down onto the coffee table with frustration. A tapping at the front window caught her attention. Looking up, she saw Spider-man hanging upside down on a web line in front of the window.  
  
She leaped off the couch and ran to the window. She slid it open and Spider-man crawled inside and dropped to the floor, landing on his feet. "Mrs. Connors, I was informed that you may have information on the Lizard?"  
  
"Thank you for coming, Spider-man! I wasn't expecting you here so soon." Martha said.   
  
"I paid a visit to Mr. Parker, and he passed this message to me. I sensed the urgency of it so I came right here. How can I help you, Mrs. Connors?"  
  
"I have information on the Lizard. Spider-man, I know you have had a few confrontations with him, but I beg you, please do not harm him."  
  
"Harm him? I didn't think that was possible," he replied.  
  
"Spider-man, the Lizard is my husband, Dr. Curt Connors."  
  
That news had completely blindsided him. He didn't know what information Mrs. Connors could have had but this didn't even come close to his mind. "Dr. Connors is that creature?"  
  
Martha nodded sadly. "I don't understand that whole situation, but my close friend, Dr. Windstrom does. She works with my husband. She found something that pointed that an accident happened and it turned my husband into that monster."  
  
"I have to admit, this changes everything about how to handle this creature. As much as I am against hurting the innocent, I don't know how to stop this Lizard without hurting your husband."  
  
"Take this," She handed him a piece a paper that was on the coffee table. Hand written on it was an address. "This is the address of Dr. Windstrom. If you go see her tonight, you can find her here. During the day, she is at the laboratory. She told me to tell you that she may have found a way to stop the Lizard and save my husband at the same time."  
  
Spider-man took the paper and looked down at the address. "If what you say is true, I will head over right away and do my best to bring your husband back to you safe and unharmed."  
  
"I know you will," Martha replied.  
  
Crawling out of the sewer, the Lizard found himself standing in the middle of the street, directly in front of his home. He hissed violently when through the window, he saw Spider-man talking with Martha. "Sssssshe issssss a traitor! Ssssssshe hassss become friendssssssss to that abominationsssssssss. Sssssssheeeee mussssssssst be taught a lesssssson of loyalty!" 


	21. Hostage

Chapter 21  
  
Dr. Windstrom was at her home, waiting for Spider-man's arrival. Her best friend, Martha Connors called her up to tell her that she has given Spider-man her address. She was franticly getting her notes in order in preparation of what she was going to say to Spider-man when he arrived. The time she had to prepare was shorter than she expected. She looked up briefly from her work to see Spider-man sticking to the ceiling. "Dr. Windstrom, I presume."  
  
"Spider-Man!" She jumped to her feet.  
  
"I'm sorry to barge in on you like this, but I heard you had information on the Lizard that I need to hear."  
  
"I was expecting you. Martha Connors called me immediately after you left her house. You now know that Dr. Connors is the Lizard, right?"  
  
"Yes, I have been made aware of it. I've noticed the Lizard had three different personalities. He's battling for control over his body and I suspect the Lizard has a second personality himself; a more mindless monster part which I think he can occasionally turn on and off at will."  
  
"I can't give you all the answers as in dealing with the personality conflict, but I can show you these. These are Dr. Connors notes," Dr. Windstrom handed Spider-man the notebook.  
  
Spider-man accepted the book and looked through the notebook full of formula's and sketches. "Dr. Connors created a formula to regrow limbs using parts of a reptilian DNA."  
  
Dr. Windstrom looked at Spider-man with a look of surprise. "You can understand those equations? You must be well versed in chemistry and other sciences."  
  
"I am," Spider-man replied. "It's obvious that something is wrong with this formula to turn him into the Lizard. Anyway, I am really not interested on what turned him into the monster, I want to know how do I stop him? Several times he was killed and then came back to life. As far as I can tell, he can not die, but now that I know that Dr. Connnors, I don't want to take another chance on his life again."  
  
"I can't explain any of that, however after studying his notes carefully, I think I have something more valuable. A way to safely stop the Lizard without harming Dr. Connors. Take this," She handed him a large syringe with a long, inch thick needle point. "This formula I made should counteract the results of this formula that is written in this notebook. If this is exactly the formula he used, than my formula will turn him back to normal instantly and permanently. This needle should be thick enough to penetrate his tough scaly skin."  
  
"Excellent!" Spider-man replied, as he accepted the syringe. "I hope this works. If it doesn't, I don't think even I can stop that monster."  
  
Martha couldn't sleep. She found herself sitting on the couch watching television. Actually, she was flipping through channels, since all that was on now were either infomercials or late night talk shows, which she was not a big fan of. Billy was still fast asleep, unaware of the events that was going on. She prayed that Spider-man would save her husband so she would never had to tell him about these horrible few days.   
  
Suddenly, the front door came shattering open and leaping through the door was the Lizard. Martha jumped to her feet, screaming! The Lizard hissed as he took a step towards Martha. She stumbled backwards. "Curt! Is that you?"  
  
"You betrayed messssssss, Martha!"  
  
"What do you mean, Curt? I didn't betray you. I want to help you!"  
  
"You wantssss to help by going to Ssspider-man!" The Lizard growled as he stepped towards Martha. "My ownsssss wife betrayed messs! That can not ssstand! I wassss going to ssspare you, but you have becomesss like all the other abominationsss." The Lizard knelt in preparation to leap.  
  
Martha squealed as she ran through the swaying door that led into the kitchen. She franticly ran around the island in the middle of the kitchen as the door was slammed open and the Lizard leaped inside. The door fell off it's hinges and came collapsing to the ground. Martha stumbled backwards, nearly falling to the tiled floor. She turned and ran for the back door.  
  
The Lizard leaped over the island and landed behind Martha who had grabbed the handle of the back door. The Lizard grabbed her hair and he yanked her back into the island. She fell back into the island, hitting her head on the corner of the counter top, and slid down the side of the island, unconscious.   
  
The Lizard hissed victoriously as he knelt down in front of Martha. "You willsss watch me kill Ssspider-man before I kill yousss!" 


	22. Battle at the Banquet Hall

Chapter 22  
  
Martha opened her eyes to find herself in a large dinning hall. There had to be over a hundred eight-men round tables that were set for a large banquet. She was tied up tightly to a chair up against the far wall. She looked up to see the roof thirty feet up with a tent-shaped sky window. Looking around, it looked like there was a stampede out of the banquet hall. She assumed that the Lizard went on a fritz to get them all out. As far as she could see, there were no dead bodies in the room. Was he setting a trap for Spider-man? She struggled to break out from her restraints but was unsuccessful.  
  
Spider-Man was swinging through the city, his chest was still burning in pain with the wind blowing upon his chest. If this formula worked, hopefully he would be able to bring this fight to a quick end. As he swung through the city, he noticed a large crowd of people running franticly. Spider-man followed upstream to the flowing crowds of people to find the source of the flow. Spider-man swung onto the building next to the four three story building. There was a sky window on the rooftop below. Perhaps he should land on the roof top and take a look inside.   
  
His spider-senses went off, alerting him of extreme danger. Above his head, a window shattered and the Lizard came jumping out of the window, dropping straight down on top of him. Soon, they were free falling down the side of the brick tower, falling towards the sky window on the rooftop of the building below. The two of them wrestled for control as they descended. Spider-man pushed himself out of the Lizard's reach with his feet. Spider-man fired a web line at the wall and stuck out his feet. The web line instantly tightened and the only thing that kept him from slamming into the building was his feet. He looked more like a wall climber.  
  
The Lizard descended past Spider-man. It reached to the brick wall with all of it claws and began to slow his descent until he came to a complete halt, leaving a trail of claw marks on the brick wall. Spider-man looked down to find the Lizard speedily climbing up the wall. "Just great!"  
  
Spider-man bent his knees and pushed himself away from the wall, letting go of the web line. In mid air he twisted around and fired a web line at the same time. He begun to swing away from the wall. The Lizard, seeing this, sped up climbing up the wall, but by the time he reached the spot, Spider-man was well out of his reach. The Lizard hissed as he Watch Spider-man swing away from him towards the other end of the street. As he was half way across, he spun another web line back to the wall he had just left and made a sharp U-turn. Spider-man was swinging straight for the Lizard, feet first.  
  
Spider-man slammed right into the Lizard's back, pinning him up against the brick Wall. Spider-man used his left hand to stick to the wall and used the weight of his body to pin the Lizard down. "Stay still, this won't hurt a bit," Spider-man said reaching for the large syringe behind him. Before he could grab it, the Lizard pushed them off the wall, sending them plummeting downward once again. Spider-man reached out with his right hand to fire a web line when the Lizard grabbed his right tightly with an evil grin on his face. "Die, Ssspider-man."  
  
The Lizard brought his left arm back and crashed his left palm into Spider-man's face, sending him falling faster towards the sky window.  
  
He could not come to his senses in time and crashed through the sky window back first. Martha screamed in horror, as she covered his face from the falling debris of glass. He fell half way down the banquet room before firing a web line up onto the roof to stop his descent. He found himself dangling above the ground. His left eye piece was cracked, and the costume up by his shoulder blades was slightly ripped and bloody from the glass. Spider-man looked up to see the Lizard standing over the ledge looking down through the hole where the sky window was.   
  
The Lizard leaped off the ledge and landed on top of Spider-man, sending them both plummeting down to the ground. The two of them crashed in the middle of one of the large round tables, with the table collapsing on impact.  
  
Spider-man struggled to get up. As he fought to stand up, he pushed aside half of the table that was destroyed upon impact. He reached for the syringe, but it was not there. "Where is it?" He gasped as he looked around. The debris from the table made it hard to spot it.  
  
"Spider-man!" Martha screamed out. Spider-man turned around to see Martha Connors tied up in a chair. He took a step towards her when his spider-senses went off. "Look out!" Martha Screamed.  
  
Spider-man turned around only to get a tail slapped in his chest sending him flying over Martha's chair and to land on the ground. Spider-man used his arms to push his chest off the ground only to have the Lizard there on top of him and picking him off the ground by his costume. The Lizard lifted Spider-man over his head and hissed as he threw him through another table. Spider-man laid there in the debris, stunned and in agony. The wounds on his chest reopend, drenching his costume.   
  
The Lizard grabbed Spider-man by his ankle and threw him like a large frizbee with such strength, he would have flown over all the tables all the way to the other side of the banquet hall. Hall way across the room, Spider-man stretched out his hands, each pointing at a wall opposite from the other. He fired web lines from both wrists which connected to both walls. He allowed the web line to flow from his wrists for a few seconds before ceasing. When He ceased, his web lines tightened as they brought him to a complete stop before sling shooting him back at the Lizard, feet first. The flat of his feet came crashing into the chest of the Lizard sending him crashing into the wall violently, leaving a giant dent and cracks in the wall.  
  
Spider-man continued to gain momentum as he fired a web line which connected to the Lizard's chest and he yanked on the line. The Lizard came flying towards Spider-man and he used his super agility and perfect timing to flip kick the Lizard under his chin, causing him to stagger back a few steps. The Lizard quickly came to his senses, but as Spider-man landed on his right foot after completing the mid-air flip, his right foot touched the ground only for a fraction of a second before he jumped up kicked the Lizard across the face, bringing his body horizontally to the ground only for the attack. The Lizard side flipped in the air and crashed through a table, stunning the Lizard. The debris of the table and the table cloth and broken plates and silverware buried the Lizard, giving Spider-man a breather.  
  
He took a deep breath and ran up to Martha and untied her. "Mrs. Connors, get out of here quick! It's not safe for you here!"  
  
"Please do everything in your power to save my husband," She pleaded with him as she jumped out of the seat after Spider-man finished untying her.  
  
"I will do my best," Spider-man promised her.  
  
Martha ran up to the first table that was broken during the battle and she bent over and picked up the syringe that Spider-man had lost. "Take this!"  
  
"I will, just go, quickly!" Spider-man urged as he took the syringe and put it behind him underneath his costume, with the handle still peeking out of the costume.  
  
Martha ran for the door just as the Lizard leaped up onto his feet, roaring with rage. His eyes began to roll behind his head for a second before they came back down and focused on Spider-man. He hunched over like a mindless beast hissing and drooling. Spider-man took a step back. Things were now about to get violent. 


	23. Brawl in the Kitchen

Chapter 23  
  
The Lizard, now in the state of a mindless predator, leaped at Spider-man with all it's fangs revealed. Spider-man dropped to his back as he fired a web line underneath the Lizard at the far wall. He drew in the web line causing him to slide on the floor on his back right past the Lizard who was in mid-air.  
  
Spider-man used the same web line to throw himself up onto his feet. He spun around to see the Lizard spin around to face him. Before the Lizard could make another lunge, he fired a web line and caught a leg of a table. With one swift super tug, the web line with the table leg wrapped around the Lizards arms and chest several times. "That should keep you tied up so I can give your medicine." Spider-man said, breaking the web line off from his wrist and began to reach for the syringe.   
  
Before he could do anything, the Lizard broke the web line that tied him up with ease. The Lizard lunged at Spider-man. Spider-man caught the Lizard's wrist as they collided. The Lizard snapped his jaws at his face as they went flying through the swinging doors leading to the kitchen.  
  
They hit the ground, with the Lizard on top of Spider-man wrestling with him. His fangs were inches away from his face, dripping drool onto Spider-man's mask. Spider-man used his legs to throw the Lizard over his head and over the stainless steel counter top.  
  
Spider-man jumped to his feet and ripped out the syringe. He pulled off the cap and held it in his left hand. He pointed his right wrist towards the syringe and slowly fired a web line at it. He looked up to see the Lizard stand up on the other side of the stainless steel counter. He waited as the Lizard leaped over the counter top. Spider-man rolled to the right and threw the syringe forward as he released the web line from his right wrist. As the Lizard flew past the syringe with the attached web line, Spider-man grabbed the web line with both hands and swung it. The web line curved in on the Lizard, and the needle point of the syringe stuck into the back of the Lizard, but not deep enough to do any good. The lizard didn't even know that it was in his back. That was some thick skin the Lizard had.  
  
The Lizard quickly regained position for another lunge. This time he charged, without leaving the ground. Spider-man fired a web line that connected to the far wall at neck length. Spider-man leaped over the web line and over the Lizard as he ran into the web line, gagging. Spider-man landed behind the Lizard and spun around and pushed the syringe all the way into his back. The Lizard yowled and before he could fight back, he pumped the formula into the Lizard and pulled out the syringe. He threw it aside and stepped back as the Lizard groggily spun around to face Spider-man.  
  
The Lizard took one step, hissing, before collapsing onto his stomach. Spider-man took a breath of relief and began to relax when his Spider-senses warned him of danger. "It can't be!"  
  
The Lizard climbed up to his feet hissing. "I'll kill you for that, Ssspider-man!" The Lizard growled.  
  
The formula had only brought the Lizard out of his mindless predator frame of mind. The formula Dr. Connors must have put into himself must have been slightly different from what his note said. That slight change must have brought about the change into the Lizard, but now there was no way of stopping him. The Lizard stormed towards Spider-man. Spider-man tried to spray webbing into the Lizard's face but he wiped the webbing away in mid air with his right claw. The lizard grabbed his wrist before he could retract it, and he pulled him so violently, that he was thrown over the counter top and crashed up against the side of another stainless steel counter. Spider-man grimaced as he fought pain to stand to his feet.   
  
He looked ahead in time to see the Lizard tossing two butcher knives at him. Spider-man bent his back backwards until the back of his head touched the cold stainless steel counter. The first knife flew past the tip of his nose, missing contact by less than an inch. The second knife sliced his right shoulder. Spider-man stood back up to find the Lizard leaping over the counter top and heading straight for him. Spider-man fired two web line at the Lizard, and used the lines to throw the Lizard past him and over the counter top behind him.   
  
The Lizard adjusted his position in mid air to land on his feet. He grabbed the web lines attached to his chest and jerked on them with super strength. The jerk on the Web lines sent Spider-man flying right towards the Lizard. The Lizard caught Spider-man by the throat. The tips of his claws dug into his neck, drawing blood. The Lizard lifted Spider-man with both hands over his head. Turning around, the Lizard saw red-hot grills still burning away. With no hesitation, the Lizard threw Spider-man towards the grill. Spider-man landed right on the greasy grills on his back. Spider-man screamed in pain as he rolled off the grills. His entire back was bare now bloody, and now badly burnt from the grill. His neck continued to burn as his mask had caught fire. Peter ripped the masked off and stomped on it, to put the flames out.  
  
Peter got up onto his hands and knees, in great agony. His spider-senses went off but he was too weak to defend himself. The Lizard's tail came crashing into the side of Peter's face sending him flying into one of the many stainless steel counters.   
  
Peter struggled to pull himself up with the countertop. Pain continued to rack his entire body as he fought to remain conscious. The Lizard hissed with glee as he charged at Peter. Peter barely made it to his feet and turned around when the Lizard delivered a super punch right on his chest where his wounds were. Peter yelped in pain. Again, the Lizard used his tail and used it as a powerful whip across Peter's chest. The strength in the Lizards tail was astronomical that Peter fell to his hands and knees.   
  
Peter coughed a few times as blood dripped from his mouth with each cough. Peter looked up at the Lizard who stood in front of him looking down at the mess he has made. Peter felt helpless and hopeless. There was no way of defeating the Lizard. He was just too powerful for him. His eyes dropped, but as they did, he saw something straight back from the Lizard all the way across the room. It was a large walk-in freezer and hope rekindled in him. It all dawned on him. The Lizard was most likely a cold blooded creature and cold blooded creatures can not stand the cold.  
  
Peter fired a web line past the Lizard. The Lizard turned to see what he was doing as the web line connected to the handle. Peter yanked on the web line, pulling the handle out and opening the freezer door. Peter jolted at the lizard, and rammed his right shoulder into the Lizard's gut with all of his strength, quickly pushing the Lizard towards the freezer. The Lizard formed a giant fist by combining his two hands and brought it down on Peter's badly burnt back.  
  
Peter screamed in pain as he fell down to one knee. Peter could not give up now, now that he was so close in bringing an end to the terror. Peter fired a web line up to the roof and slid up the web line as fast as he could. While sliding upward, he kicked the Lizard underneath the chin, stunning the Lizard. Once above the Lizard. He fired another web line to swing past the Lizard. Once past, he released the web line and dropped to the ground. As he dropped, he spun around and fired a web line that connected to the Lizard's back. Once Peter's feet touched the ground, with the last of his strength, he pulled the web line.  
  
Peter stepped aside as the Lizard went flying backwards to crash into steel shelves. He closed the heavy steel door and he stood there as he heard the pounding of the door from the other side. He waited for a few minutes before the pounding stopped. Peter threw open the freezer door to see the lizard there unconscious. He quickly pulled the lizard out of the freezer. He was still breather, much to Peter's relief. Now what?  
  
Peter fell to his knees as he coughed up some more blood. As he wiped his chin off from his blood, he watched as the Lizard's body transformed back into Dr. Connor's body. It was over. 


	24. Life Goes On

Chapter 24  
  
A few days past and Peter decided to pay the Connor family a visit. After ringing the doorbell, the door opened up and standing there was Martha. "Peter! This is a pleasant surprise! Come on in."  
  
Peter nodded as he followed her into the house and into the living room. Standing up from the couch was Dr. Curt Connors. "Peter! It's good to see you again."  
  
"I heard you were seriously hurt in an accident a few days ago on top of the injuries you sustained earlier."  
  
"Yea, it has been a rough week. I'm doing well. The wounds will take some time to heal," Peter admitted. Fortunately, most of his wounds and bandages were covered by his clothes. He did have a few bruises across the face. He had to come up with a lie to explain to Aunt May and friends to explain the server wounds that he had acquired in his fight with the Lizard. He had been lucky that his internal injuries was not as serious as it could have been. "I came to see how you were doing, Dr. Connors."  
  
"I'm doing well thanks to Spider-man. From what I can tell, the formula that he injected into the Lizard did half of the job. It controlled the mindless predator frame of mind. It wasn't until the coldness of the freezer when the formula took full effect. Unfortunately, I suspect that some chemical got mixed into my formula, so the effects of the formula that was injected into me is temporary." Dr. Connors showed Peter his left arm to show him the device wrapped around the arm. "This device here warns me when my metabolism is threatening to change. When this goes off, I inject an altered formula based on the one Dr. Windstrom created which fights the transformation. This should work until I come up with a formula that will cure me permanently."  
  
"Well, I hope you are successful, Dr. Connors," Peter replied. "I wish I could stay, but I am kind of busy."  
  
"Well take it easy, Peter Parker. You have been seriously hurt. You shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard. Take it easy, will you?"  
  
"I will," Peter replied.  
  
Mary Jane entered her apartment, closing the door behind her. She had not seen Peter since the afternoon at the hospital. She had to come up with a lie to tell Aunt May to explain his absence, but that was the last time she saw anyone remotely close to Peter. She had been furious about Peter throwing his life away to stop the Lizard, but she knew from the news that Peter had stopped the Lizard once and for all. She knew he was hurt, but to what extent she did not know. Her anger towards him had diminished a little but she would not go see him; he would have to come to her. His not coming to see her these past few days had begun to make her bitter towards Peter.  
  
Mary Jane walked into the living room where a bouquet of flowers dropped in front of her, dangling from a web line. Mary Jane kept a firm face as she detached the flowers from the web line. Spider-man slide down a web line, hanging upside-down in front of Mary Jane. "Here are some flowers for a lovely lady, Miss. Watson."  
  
Mary Jane looked at the flowers and frowned. "These are beautiful, but I already have a boyfriend who owes me an explanation on why he hasn't come to see me in a few days."  
  
"Really?" Peter replied. "That gentlemen better know how lucky he is to have a girl like you."  
  
"He better, but he's got some explaining to do," Mary Jane replied, folding her arms across her chest.  
  
"Well, I'm sure he has a good explanation. Maybe he was seriously hurt in a fight and was hospitalized. Maybe he had the doctor keep this a secret so not to scare you about how serious of a condition he was in and wanted to see you the moment he came out of the hospital." Mary Jane eyed Spider-man suspiciously. "Maybe your boyfriend will be a little jealous by this." He used a web line to dangle a small black box in front of her, and her attitude took a 180 degree turn.   
  
She gasped as she grabbed the box and opened it to see a beautiful diamond engagement ring. She was too joyful to role play any longer. Peter knew it and he took off his mask for her. "Mary Jane, will you marry me?"  
  
Tears of joy ran down the sides of her face as she held his head between her hands. "Yes!"  
  
Mary Jane kissed him passionately in the same way she did the first time in that alley a few years ago: with Peter hanging upside down hanging on a web line. The kiss lasted for a minute before Mary Jane stepped back as reality hit her. "Peter, we can't do this right now. You have school, hopefully a new job soon, and your life as Spider-man. How can you handle a marriage right now?"  
  
"First of all, I plan to go get my job back at the Daily Bugle. Then, I am going to quit school. It's time I realize that my destiny is in being Spider-man, not the scientist that I've wanted for most of my life. The job at the Bugle will tie in perfectly with my life as Spider-man. From now on, I am going to be there for you and Aunt May." Mary Jane smiled as she stepped forward and resumed her kiss.  
  
Eddie Brock was in a meeting with J. Jonah Jameson until the door of Jameson's office shot open violently and in marched Peter with a file in his hands and two police officers following behind him. J. Jonah Jameson shot up onto his feet in anger. "What is the meaning of this? What the hell are you doing here Parker? I fired you!"  
  
"Mr. Jameson, I think you need to see this," He handed the file to him.  
  
"What are you trying to do Parker?" Brock grinned. "Are you trying to get your job back? Do you really think your photos will help you get your job back?"  
  
"That folder does not contain photos but evidence that you are responsible for many of the criminal acts that had taken place recently in New York. You started that fire at the theater that endangered my girl friend. You hired men to commit crimes to try to call out Spider-man so you could steal my job. It was you who are responsible for endangering the lives of countless people. Those papers came from the house of one of the men you hired, and he has testified to the police that you paid him to do those things. The police records show that a few times that you had paid that man's bail."  
  
Eddie Brock began to breath heavily with anger. "It's a lie! All of it! You are trying to set me up, and it won't work."  
  
J. Jonah Jameson looked through the fire then up at Peter and then at Eddie. "Of all the years of journalism, I have never seen anyone sink so low to get a story than this, Brock! Even I wouldn't sink as low as to endanger the lives of the people of New York. You have tarnished the reputation of this paper and that is inexcusable! You are a poor excuse of a photographer. You're fired!"  
  
"But sir," Eddie pleaded, the tone of his voice had turned to frantic.  
  
"Eddie Brock, you are under arrest for financially abetting in criminal activities," the two police officers approached Eddie and grabbed him and began to cuff his wrists behind his back.   
  
Eddie screamed as he fought with the two officers to get to Peter. "I'll kill you for this Peter Parker! I will rip you to shreds! I will serve your brain upon a silver platter and I will eat it!" He roared almost as if he had become demon possessed.   
  
"Well, officers, what are you waiting for? Remove this freak from my office!"   
  
The two officers forced Brock out of the office, fighting all the way wanting desperately to get his hands on Peter. They watched through the glass window everyone standing and watching the commotion as the police officers dragged Eddie Brock out of the office area. J. Jonah Jameson straightened his collar and sat down, glancing up at Peter. "Well, what are you waiting for, Parker? Go bring me some front page photographs!"  
  
"Are you offering me my job back again, sir?" Peter said, looking firmly at J. Jonah Jameson.  
  
J. Jonah Jameson raised his upper lip. "Do you want me to spell it out for you? Now go!"  
  
"Well, sir," Peter said glancing down at his feet for a second. "It just happens that I was offered a job by the New York Times. They offered me three grand more a year than I was making here. How can I refuse a job like that?"  
  
J. Jonah Jameson was furious, but he held his anger in check. "You have a lot of nerve, kid. Fine, I'll give you four grand more a year, now go get me some pictures!"  
  
"Thank you, sir." Peter turned around and walked out of his office with a grin on his face.  
  
"Even now, over two years later from the time I was bitten by that spider, I am only beginning to get my life in order. I now know that I have been given a calling; a calling I can not escape.  
  
With great power comes great responsibility. Those words will continue to echo in my mind. I have accepted the responsibility that has been placed upon my shoulders and now I can live life happier than I ever have: a life as a future husband of a Mary Jane Parker and as New York's greatest hero, the spectacular Spider-man."  
  
THE END  
  
THANK YOU ALL FOR READING THIS STORY. I HAVE ENJOYED RETURNING TO WRITE A SECOND SPIDER-MAN STORY CONTINUING WHERE THE FIRST MOVIE LEFT OFF. I DO HAVE PLANS TO WRITE ONE MORE SPIDY FIC CALLED: THE WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (SPIDER-MAN 4). ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN READING SOME ROUGH SCETCHES OF SCENES FROM WHAT I AM PLANNING IN MY NEXT STORY, LET ME KNOW AND LEAVE ME AN EMAIL ADDRESS AND I WILL EMAIL YOU THE TEXT FILE VERSION. 


End file.
